Disenchantment
by HueHueFanfiction
Summary: Harry realizes just how unhelpful Dumbledore is at the end of his Third-Year and comes to remember a quote, "If you want something done right - Do it yourself." / Dark, Intelligent, Cunning, Harry. Attempting a different angle on these popular tropes. Will deviate from Canon. Will NOT be OP Harry, if anything it's quite the opposite. Read to find out more!
1. Disenchantment toward Enlightenment

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything that I've written. Yep, that's right, I own not even one iota of the below work.

 **Summary:** Harry became disenchanted with Dumbledore, so he works toward enlightenment, and this has several effects on the wizard, but what effects will it have on the world around him.

 **Authour Note:** This started out as pretty much a trash story that I didn't plan to even write a second chapter to - Yet I've grown attached to it like it was my ugly duckling child. There will be no beta, just my writing and the purity of the mistakes I make. Should someone want to beta the story, feel free to let me know. The chapter below is probably the least fleshed out piece of work I've ever written - I could have separated all of this stuff into separate chapters and it would have been far more effective story telling. The reality of this chapter is more like an info drop before we get into fourth year, which is the stuff that I actually _want_ to write out.

For those who are worried that I'm moving in a distinctively familiar path - I have several ideas that will separate this fic from the heard of similar works.

Digital cookies to whoever knows who the 'character' that Harry talks about is. He'll be mentioned throughout several chapters of the story, but I find that naming the character is somewhat cheesy and overdone. Harry doesn't need the name anyway, all he needs are the actions. Still, props to anyone that figured it out.

Harry will not be 'over powered' in this story either. It's a bit ' _spoilerish_ ' but for those who don't care and want to know why they shouldn't snub this fic, Harry will use his intelligence as opposed to the considerable magical power that he possesses. In other words, Harry could be over-powered should he bother to learn powerful magics, but he won't be bothering because he thinks his way is better.

BTW I know, my writing IS absolute shit. No I don't need you to tell me how to spell words like 'colour' 'favour' and such. Thanks for your time.

 **Chapter One: Disenchantment toward Enlightenment**

...

Why didn't Album Dumbledore do something about this?

A disenchanted Harry James Potter wandered the dank castle halls a few hours before the train back to the normal world would be departing. So far, the young raven haired boy had not experienced a relaxing, or even normal year at school. This year however, was the worst by far. It was not just because it was more dangerous than any of the others – and it was – but largely because he had hope of escaping the hell that was the Dursley's home, only to have it ruthlessly ripped away.

This year Harry had met with his godfather – Sirius Black – who had offered to take him in. They were going to get the man's name cleared, but everything fell apart.

Harry could accept this. Nothing else in his life ever seemed to work out after all, why would something like this. An hour or so ago, it occurred to the young wizard just what had been bugging him. Albus Dumbledore was one of the most respected people in the wizarding world. Most of the students at Hogwarts worshiped the ground that the old man walked on as though it turned to gold behind him. So why couldn't he use some of that clout to help get Sirius a trial?

The answer was simple, Dumbledore could have, but did not.

It filled Harry with rage to think about, making his magic react rather violently as well. The air around him was heavily saturated with the leaking magic, other students instinctively avoiding behind near the Boy-Who-Lived as he theorized.

The Headmaster was such an unreachable figure as well. Even if Harry wanted to plead his case, to beg for the elder wizard to do something, Harry doubted that he would get anywhere near Dumbledore. This simply spoke of a goal though.

' _If you want something done right, do it yourself._ ' Harry thought, almost sarcastically to himself, still angry, but accepting the fact that once again, the adults wouldn't be able to help him.

Throughout all his years at Hogwarts, this, if nothing else, was a reoccurring theme. It seemed that it wouldn't be changing anytime soon. Already Harry had learned that most of the teachers at the school were people you couldn't trust... Why had Harry ever been expecting something different from Dumbledore, the young man didn't know. Thus far, Harry had been rather passive about the wizarding world. Just taking it in, learning, or attempting to learn, just like all the other students. It seemed that this had proved ineffective and a different strategy was needed.

Harry Potter was nothing if not flexible.

If the young Potter wanted to help his godfather, it would likely not help him to be learning a whole lot about magic. Rather, focusing on more intellectual pursuits and political machinations would be more fitting. Now that a plan was forming in his head, Harry walked with a purpose, but almost as though so entranced with his own thoughts that he couldn't actually see anything else. He boarded the train without even a single thought toward where he was going, and his friends sat next to the wizard, but Harry just made idle small talk, not even registering what he was speaking. He was too busy thinking the situation over.

When Harry came into the wizarding world, he created something of a character. A skin to fit into so that eh wouldn't stick out and could meet the expectations that people seemingly had for him. It was an ability that had been beat into him by the Dursley Family.

Perhaps it was time to shred that skin, as Harry doubted he could free Sirius with in a way that was befitting of his current form.

With that solidified, Harry turned toward what he should learn.

There were plenty of places that you could 'Owl Order' books from. Harry just needed to pick the ones that would be most useful for his current pursuits. Previously, the raven haired boy went for mostly Defense Against the Dark Arts books only. Now that he was leaving that attitude behind – History, Law, and books from other subjects so that he could catch up to his classmates level. Image would be important, and if he was perceived to be unable to score well on the basics of wizarding classes, he doubted that anyone in the Wizarding World would take him all that seriously when he went about getting the acquittal.

There were also several things that he could learn from the Muggle World. The Wizards were painfully lacking in a few departments of intellectual ponderings. Before Hogwarts, Harry hadn't bothered to learn anything more than the bare minimum in the Muggle World either – But the thirteen year old knew that these things existed. Some books on philosophy, psychology, and various other subjects certainly wouldn't be remiss in his plan.

With that vague plan in mind – Harry Potter started his summer 'vacation'

...

The first thing that Harry did when he got home was to threaten his darling relatives into treating him decently with the threat of his rather infamous godfather. The second thing was to order a number of books he saw fitting to his current needs, has he'd thought about on the train home. The third thing, was simply enough, to get a library card.

The library itself was so empty other than the one worker that any sound made echoed throughout the whole building. When Harry asked about why it was such, the worker got a sad look on their face for a moment before replying, "Technology is taking away any need for physical books like this. It's nice to see a young man like yourself here though. It gives me hope for the future."

Technology... That was something that Harry would have to touch upon in the future. At the moment it was too big of a task to undertake. Some part of it though, felt like too large an advantage to ignore.

The atmosphere in the library was relaxing, even as Harry started to read an extremely heavy book on the basics of philosophical outlooks, he didn't tense up at all. In that moment, the young body decided to make this somewhat of his 'base of operations' for the summer.

...

The first week of vacation was more relaxing than Harry had expected. The Dursley Family left him alone for the most part after the threat that was made, so other than meals, Harry didn't have to deal with them. Reading was more of a relaxing experience than Harry had thought, and he went over most of the books form first and second year in addition to the ones that he read at the library.

It felt good – To actually exercise his mind as opposed to letting it rot away beneath the little act that he'd been putting on for the majourity of his life.

New books came at the end of the week. DADA, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Law, Politics, History, Astronomy, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and several other books were covered in the bulk order.

It would be easy to give up when looking at the monstrous task that stood before the Potter, but he wouldn't allow that of himself. He was far too stubborn and wanton of his own goal.

...

Psychology was one of his favourite subjects thus far. The look into the way that humans in general worked was something that Harry had come to appreciate and take to heart. Yet, for every rule, there was always an exception. For every Bystander Effect, there was someone that actually stepped up to help without hesitation. It was hard to predict humans, hard to truly put their nature into a page and say that something was surely always undoubtedly going to happen.

He even learned several things that Harry could consider himself when going through the Muggles intellectual properties and discoveries.

Harry was a nihilist in that he didn't really believe that there was any meaning in life. He was a misanthrope in that he in general knew that you couldn't trust or have belief in humans in general. They were a greedy and selfish people that would let you down, not to mention rather unpredictable. And he subscribed to Apatheism, in which whether god existed or not didn't matter, and shouldn't be talked about as it was utterly irrelevant in his human life.

These were words that only lightly described him. After all, Harry was only thirteen going on fourteen. He was a bit young to be so utterly cynical. The more that he read though, the more that these traits developed. The young green eyed boy felt good about that though, he was forming his own opinions. Maybe they weren't suitable for his age, but they were his own.

The librarian was starting to notice the fact Harry was moving into such heavy subjects and thoughts and tried to redirect him a little bit, "Perhaps you could try this. Several young people read things like this. It's the first one in the series... It would be a nice break from the things you currently read."

"Thank you so much, Miss. I appreciate you sparing me the thought." Harry demurred, taking the offered book and promising to read it.

The smile he got from the kind woman was worth it – It also made him feel better. Like maybe he was wrong, maybe humans were deserving of hope.

The second that Harry left her presence the thought was gone and he went into a trance as he quickly sped through the book that he had been handed.

The the next – and the next.

A character in the book was particularly compelling that made him want to keep reading, despite the fact that Harry felt he'd outgrown such fictionally aimed books. Harry through the useless information out, like the other characters that he couldn't care less for, names didn't matter either, just the actions, the personality, the beliefs. It gave the young boy a new way to aim his pursuits that made a lot of sense for his current goal.

Originally the Potter had thought he would work on gaining respect by learning everything he possibly could and almost forcing them to respect him, all the while diving into the political drama that existed in the Wizarding World. The novel he'd just read pointed him in another potential direction.

Information.

It made the world go around, and that wasn't an exaggeration. Harry was thirteen, and there weren't a lot of ways to gain information that would get him in a place he could force his wants on others, or direct them in a way that he could get what he wanted, but he wouldn't be thirteen forever. This was perhaps the best way to get what he wanted, well not being so caught up in the mess that was politics. Never mind the fact that finding an 'in' to to speak was going to be difficult when it came to politics. Sure, Harry was the Boy-Who-Lived, but he was just that, a boy. This way would be more subtle and something that he could do from the shadows instead of being out in the open.

The character in the book had become feared simply because he sussed out so many secrets that no one would dare to touch him in fear that the character would allow those secrets to come to light.

Harry wanted that, far more than he could put into words.

...

It was childish, in a way, to try to form a goal around something that was read in a teenagers novel. Still, there was a saying that went something like, ' _if it ain't broke, don't fix it_ ' that Harry found fit this situation perfectly well. So first thing was first, he needed a way to securely gain and keep information. When it came to the Wizarding World, this was made difficult.

In the book that Harry read, the character in question had used technology to keep and gain information in a lot of cases.

Now, Harry knew that it was possible to make technology work in the Wizarding World. They had bus' and cars after all, even if the flying car had been an illegal creation. So there was a way to make something like a laptop work, and Harry would figure it out. Writing inordinate amounts of information with a quill and parchment was a moronic way of gathering and keeping information, as well as overly time and space consuming. Time that could be better used in other avenues. So, the first step in his little plan was to learn to make technology work in the Wizarding World, perhaps even finding a way to use magic in running it, as opposed to electricity. Something that Harry knew wouldn't be that easy, because surely if it was, someone would have already done it.

...

Harry came to realize in his research that many people _had_ made Muggle-Technology work in the Wizarding World, but it was considered illegal. Conservatives at work, and probably one of the best examples of conservatism that Harry had the _good will_ of seeing as an example. Sure, in the Muggle World there were several examples, such as the non-acceptance of homosexuality, but this wanton hold on the idea of Muggle-Technology somehow being inferior to something that the Wizards could create, and thus shouldn't be used, was almost to be admired.

As illegal as it was, Harry would have what he wanted. Legality didn't concern him so much, besides, part of his goal was finding a way to get his godfather to be acquitted of his crimes. A small section of time was simply set aside to help the young Potter to find a way around the moronic laws against the use of Muggle-Technology, and it wouldn't be long before the green-eyed boy found something that he could use.

Nothing stood up long in the face of such pure and stubborn determination.

...

Finding a way around the laws wasn't exactly as simple a matter as Harry had been expecting. Clearly, this section of law was given a lot of thought and careful revision.

He did find out how the other people had used magic to make technology work though. It was Ancient Rune's that held the solution to that little problem. Adding several protection, powering, and such runes would work toward that result. It was actually an example in the Rune textbook, stating that you could make Muggle-Technology work in the Wizarding World _, but you cannot! Oh no, that's illegal!_

As though that little warning would stop him.

With that in mind, Harry entered the Wizarding World for the first time in over a month. Diagon Alley would have several things that he wanted. First and foremost, Harry needed to visit the bank. He'd been remiss in not asking for reports on just what his assets left from his parents were. After which, he would take money out and go back into the Muggle World to get the planned laptops for experimentation, a cell-phone perhaps, and he was in need of new clothing. Wizarding clothing was distasteful to Harry, as robes were cumbersome and got in the way. He'd already set his mind on wearing Muggle Clothing even when he went back to Hogwarts, if robes were needed, he would wear only the outer set, nothing more.

He'd checked the rules – Nothing against it. It was just a uniform, so people simply assumed that wearing it was a rule. Harry felt no need to follow such limitations that were simply in place due to social shunning of those that didn't easily fit in. He could handle small dirty looks and such, it wouldn't affect his own choices. Not anymore, that was his old skin. Now he was being himself.

...

The bank had a lot of useful information. It also provided him with a political entrance should he want it. It was fortunate that Harry found a separate way of getting what he wanted, as if he'd found this bit of information first, well, things probably would have gone a lot different.

Seat at the Wizengamot aside Harry's finances were out of control. He didn't know who, but the truth of what exactly his inheritance was had been forcibly kept from him. The raven haired boy could only assume it was Dumbledore, but that was beside the point.

The Goblins were clearly not to be trusted, if they allowed this to happen.

Harry didn't trust humans either of course, but at least in the Muggle World there was always a balance. They couldn't take much of your money, or allow others to do it, because they were too closely monitored. After all, in the Muggle World _everyone_ knew just how untrustworthy the person next to you was.

Aside from the numbers not adding up – Harry had a _more_ than considerable amount of money. He made it quite clear to the goblins that he would be taking _everything_ out of their establishment as far as money went, though the books and properties could stay under their management. The goblins were unhappy and panicked at the fact the boy was taking the majourity of his assets out of the bank, but the hardened eyes couldn't be argued with.

Harry left that bank with a check for over three million pounds, or 3,735,148 dollars.

To say that the banker he'd made a new account with in the Muggle World was shocked would be an understatement.

Harry knew that humans in general couldn't be trusted with a large amount of money being suddenly thrust onto them. That's why people who won the lottery always fared so poorly. It was also, why Harry knew better than to frivolously spend any majour amounts of money. Instead, the Potter had a banker assigned to his assets and instructed them to start investing one third of his money, as to make some return on the money. Otherwise it might get withered away in taxes and continued expenses.

A credit card in hand, Harry left that bank with a small smirk pulled to the corner of his mouth. He honestly felt rather accomplished, and he liked the feeling.

It hadn't been that hard to pull off, a little bit of exasperation over the fact that people assumed him to be so young, and he was set. Properly pulling off a lie was mostly about the amount of confidence that was placed in it – That wasn't books talking, but rather, experience.

...

Three laptops, a smart phone, and a whole wardrobe later, Harry was about ten-thousand pounds down. Which honestly didn't bother him much. Perhaps that was the problem people with money gained? He'd have to be more careful, but that was beside the point.

Most of the wardrobe consisted of long sleeve black shirts and black, extremely fitted jeans. Perhaps a trait that he'd gained from the character from the book he enjoyed the thought of emulating. Or, perhaps, it was simply because it was the clothing to wear should be go through with his plans of wearing Muggle Clothing to Hogwarts.

A nice pair of fitted, black, high-top sneakers had done him wonders as well. Now the only thing that needed dealing with was his glasses. Toward which, Harry had his dear Auntie produce an appointment for, after he promised that he would pay the expenses. Contacts would work wonders, in both protection because they couldn't be used against him, but also in looks.

Harry could feel himself becoming slightly more vain... Which didn't bother him at all.

...

By the end of the summer Harry was caught up with any other student his year in all subjects, not bothering to learn the fourth year stuff, instead using that time to learn Wizarding Law and Runes, as well as the Muggle subjects that interested him.

He'd gotten the laptop to work, although it hadn't been an easy process. He'd gone through far more than the original two, has he forced himself to admit. Once he had the idea down though, he easily enough got his phone to work as well.

Now he just needed the information that he planned to use. This was something that would take several years, Harry was sure, so at first, he would need to keep on a strict goal on Sirius as opposed to his plan to be like the character he found so appealing.

Even the young Potter knew that he had overworked himself a ridiculous about in the past few months, it would be nice to attempt the impossible. A long but normal year at Hogwarts – A year that even the likes of Harry James Potter could be nothing more than a normal student. At least, that was what said boy was hoping for. At this point, the misanthrope had learned not to expect so much of the people around him.

And what a sad thing that was.

There was also an interesting little scant of information on the existence of Metamorphmagus' and just what it meant in reaction to the young information hunter. When he was young, Harry could remember growing back his hair in to time at all in order to avoid embarrassment at the hands of his peers. When reading about the Metamorphmagus ability in his Transfiguration text book – Harry guessed that he might have a lesser potent version of the ability.

A little bit of playing around and Harry realized that he could actually tame his hair with the ability! He could also move his scar with intense concentration, and change his eye colour. He could change his hair colour as well, but any majour changes to his composition where beyond him. Full Metamorphmagus could change their whole body, including their gender. It was, perhaps, one of the soon to be fourth years most useful abilities that he'd found.

The discovery had him permanently removing his scar, keeping his hair straightened, and his eyes turned a deep red at most times.

The character from the book showing deeply on his looks as well. In fact, Harry could say he'd pass as a little brother of that character when he looked in the mirror. Perhaps he actually considered the character something of an older brother as well. After all, he'd saved Harry from not only potential mediocrity, but also the cesspool that was politics.

 **R &R**

 **Anything in particular that you guys would like to see in the coming chapters? Let me know and I shall try my bets to accommodate.**


	2. The Results of a Revolution

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything that I've written. Yep, that's right, I own not even one iota of the below work.

 **Summary:** Harry became disenchanted with Dumbledore, so he works toward enlightenment, and this has several effects on the wizard, but what effects will it have on the world around him.

 **Authour Note:** Alright, so I'm attempting to show some of the changes in Harry this chapter, and I'm not sure I completely nailed it, but I'm relatively happy with the chapter. Some of the changes that were mentioned in the last chapter have dulled a bit - That was to do with the fact he's around his friends and doesn't feel the need to let the full extent of his new cynicism overwhelm him. It's still there though! The first chapter was far too abrupt - So spacing out the expression of all those new things Harry came into should be something that takes time. (I want to give him ACTUAL character development that I didn't really show in that first chapter. It was more of a prologue than anything else.)

Pole on my profile for the ship of this story. I also have a little dribble on why the pole is set up and the effects it will have on my choices. If you want a ship added to the pole, send me a PM or a review and I'll add it. No votes on the thing yet, so no update on that end.

Please enjoy the chapter! Thank you to everyone that reviewed the first chapter as well, it put a smile on my face.

 **Chapter Two: Results of Revolution**

...

Never having interactions with his relatives made for a calming summer – Consequently it also lead to Harry being far away from any Quidditch World Cups. Which, to the new Harry Potter wasn't much of a negative. The Quidditch had been part of the original mask the boy created, and certainly didn't fit into his new, red-eyed persona. Having said that, Harry did somewhat miss his friends, and was thankful that he was currently boarding the train to Hogwarts.

He was a few hours early, his relatives not wanting to wait any longer before getting rid of their most hated Nephew, but that just gave Harry a bit longer to think over a few of the things that he needed to accomplish when he got to the school.

Of course, he would need to speak to his Head-of- House about the course load that he had planned. That is to say, Harry planned to drop anything other than Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, DADA, and Potions. The bare minimum work load, creating a lot of free time. This would be where Harry would study the subjects that he dropped for his O.W.L's, as well as Rune's and Arithmancy.

Harry's goal was to take the tests despite having not taken the subjects in school. Something that was allowed, but frowned upon.

As far as grades, Harry wasn't aiming for anything particularly spectacular, as Hermione would no doubt be doing. No, Harry just wanted across the board E's. The young Potter boy saw no need to go farther than the minimum to go onto N.E.W.T's in each of the subjects that he enjoyed.

Besides, all of the subjects were rather beside the point when it came to Harry's current goals.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" A familiar voice scolded.

The mask would have cowered in the face of such feminine wrath... As it turned out, the new Harry Potter wasn't much different – He just hide it better.

"Hermione, are you trying to cause me to go deaf? Here I thought you were the one that liked to lecture me on listening to the teachers." Harry retorted, but turned to look at his friend, standing up to show both Hermione, and the somewhat flummoxed Ron the changes that he'd been through during the summer.

Harry was skinny, and he had always been. That was something unlikely to ever change, but his frail looking appearance now had a hidden depth to it – As opposed to before when it had a hidden strength. The black clothing, the straightened and straightened hair, and the new eye colour were overly shocking. Ron literally stumbled backwards for a moment, not sure that the person he was facing was his friend.

Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and shoved him into the compartment, turning toward Harry with a serious expression, "Tell us _everything,_ Harry _._ "

How demanding... It was something that Harry still found weirdly enduring about the bushy haired teen, "I went through something of an enlightenment period, you could say that I went into a revolution to change just who I was and what I want from the future. This was the result. I find the result pleasing. In fact, you'll be ecstatic to know that I studied a lot over the summer. I'm even planning on taking extra O.W.L exams."

It seemed that the raven haired boy's carefully chosen words hide their mark, as his female friend utterly abandoned her line of questioning everything – as she had planned – and instead focused purely on academics.

Ron just seemed utterly lost especially when Hermione – without warning – started to quiz Harry on every subject offered at Hogwarts.

...

Easy conversation flowed through the three students, Ron eventually finding his place in the conversation and interjecting every now and again. He was surprisingly knowledgeable on pureblood customs and traditions, even though he looked down upon them. At some point, their voices rose in order to block out the sound of rain spluttering against the windows.

"Shh!" Hermione suddenly snapped at Ron, as he went on about the World Cup, regaling a bemused Harry of the dangers in an incredibly over-dramatic tone.

Ron's face grew slightly red in anger, but before he could blow up toward his bushy haired friend, she pointed toward the compartment next to the one the trio was currently occupying, motioning for them to listen in, and a familiar smooth voice broke the relative silence, "Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know."

Harry went on to completely ignore what the blonde was saying. His opinion on the young Malfoy was rather lacking, and why wouldn't it be? The blonde was sorted into Slytherin, the House of Cunning. You would think he could see beyond appearances, that he could actually be sly, but he couldn't. It was a disappointment really. It demonstrated what happened to a person when they didn't come into their own, instead modeling themselves purely on another being. A problem that Harry recognized in himself for a scant moment, before disregarding the thought. After all, despite Harry finding 'The Character' compelling enough to steal some of their ideas, he wasn'ttrying to _overwrite everything he was_ in order to become a carbon copy _._

The red-eyed boy was pulled from his thoughts by Hermione saving a worried hand in front of his face, "Are you alright Harry?"

"Just a bit distracted – Debating the positives that would come from not falling into old patterns with Draco Malfoy this year. I'm beginning to think of him as nothing more than a waste of energy, if I am to be perfectly honest." Harry explained, his tone dry as sand.

The witch gave her friend an approving look, but Ron scrunched up his nose at the thought, "Mate, if you aren't there to cut him down to size, the blonde infection will spread... I don't want to know what that would look like."

"A bit like the Weasley one, I could assume." Harry retorted without pause.

It earned him a glare, and a look of surprise.

Why they would be so put off by his particular brand of wit was beyond the dark haired boy. After all, even though he rarely regarded his friends with his sharp humour, they had seen him wield it against Severus Snape as though it was a weapon in potions class.

An awkward silence came over the compartment, only the heaving rain and the rattling of the trolley broke the stillness.

When Harry spent such a large majourity of his summer missing his friends, it didn't occur to him that these two hadn't actually made friends with the _real_ Harry Potter. They made friends with a mask, a skin that had been shed and left behind without hesitation on the Metamorphmagus' part. It sent a spark of worry into his heart, the idea that they might not actually accept him. Especially Ron... Human's weren't an understanding species after all. Harry felt the weird impulse to hide away, to remake his discarded mask and pretend his revolution didn't happen.

He ruthlessly crushed this thought.

If his friends couldn't accept him for the person he was now – It was likely that the two just didn't deserve the friendship that he offered them.

The encyclopedia of the group got tired of wasting her time in such a useless and tense atmosphere and pulled out _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4_ and started to go over the charms within. This action – finally – created another familiar common ground between the two males, as they exchanged an half amused, half exasperated look the moment Hermione's attention was fully attached to the text book.

Harry reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, intending to act as Hermione had and distract his own attention momentarily – Like most teens – Using the escape that music provided.

"What is that, Mate?" Ron asked, curiosity coating his voice as he allowed his eyes to glide over the smooth looking object in his friends hand.

Immediately, Hermione looked up in response, and her eyes bulged slightly, "That's not allowed, Harry. How did you even get it to work. Which is beside the point, of course, it's illegal!"

"What's illegal?" Ron queried, confused.

All the while, Harry was slightly mad at himself. He thought of quite a bit on how he would use his technology at school. That's why he used runes to connect his spiral notebook and pen to his laptop, making the keyboard type out the letters that Harry wrote in it. He also came up with a way to use his phone well in school, having added low level concealment runes. They wouldn't fool anyone that actually bothered to look, but most people did not look farther than their base assumptions. So when people looked at him and saw that Harry was holding a small book, they wouldn't question it. Unlikely that it would fool any Professours of people with a high level of magic, but it would have fooled at least Ron Weasley, who was neither particularly clever or powerful.

Had Harry actually remembered to turn the Runes on.

"It's just a rather clever combination of simple Runes. People really over-think the technology issue. Regardless Hermione, this is a good thing. Trust me, this is going to help me improve in my classes and make everything much more efficient for my learning." Harry purposely spoke, trying to hit his moral friends 'sweet spots' as it were. After all, the obsessive girl had no problem breaking the law last year herself, just so she could attend more classes.

Ron started to catch up, "Is that one of those muggle... Sullyphones?"

"Cell-phone, and yes, it is. I also have a laptop, and I have no intention of using parchment or quills and inkpots this year either. I'm sick of the Wizarding World making things difficult for themselves so that they can feel _special_. Or at least, everyone else can do it if they want. I don't and won't subscribe to that particular brand of senselessness."

They quieted at the strong rhetoric, but Hermione seemed almost thoughtful. Which meant that Harry had accurately enough made his point, "... Think you could let me borrow a pen?"

A olive branch, Harry recognized, his friend felt bad about jumping to conclusions. This was especially guilt-worthy considering her own actions last year, which the red-eyed boy knew the studious girl would have recognized as hypocritical at this point.

"Of course, but like you said, it is illegal to have technology modified to work in the Wizarding World, we should probably keep this between us. The less people that know a secret, the easier it is to keep it."

His friends nodded without hesitation, making Harry's lips quirk upward. He really had made a good choice with these particular friends. Both of them were exceptionally loyal – Even in the face of the various changes their friend was going through.

"Keeping secrets, Potter?"

Harry swung his gaze over to the compartment door, which had Draco Malfoy at it's entrance, backed up by his adorable little thugs, Crabbe and Goyle. Immediately, the most shrewd of the group searched Malfoy's appearance for clues on whether the secret that had been being previously discussed had been blown open.

Slight frustration, if the crinkles at the corner of the Slytherin's eyes were to be believed. The most likely conclusion was that he had entered only slightly after the request for secrecy had been made. Which was good, otherwise Harry knew for a fact he would be in trouble, despite his considerable status.

"Only the best kind, Draco, the kind you don't know." Harry retorted plainly, keeping his previous words of falling into old patterns in mind. He got a narrowed look, but the blonde seemed to weigh the response and the difference in continence and decide that, at least for now, Harry was off limits.

You don't take on someone that you don't know the full capabilities of. Perhaps Harry had underestimated the Malfoy's intelligence, of course, the maturity level seemed about the same, considering he turned to Ron and started to berate him for his mothers taste in clothing, "What are those?" His voice light with an honest humour that wasn't usually found in these confrontations, "Weasley, you aren't thinking about actually wearing these things, are you? Perhaps a few hundred years ago it would have been acceptable –

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Ron snarled, apparently not finding the humour in it.

Harry didn't and couldn't conceal his own snort of laughter.

"Harry!" Ron exclaimed, looking betrayed. How could Harry be at fault though, in the face of that... Thing that the red-head had brought with him. Had it been Harry robe, the monstrosity would have been burned to death already.

"So, thinking of entering, gonna make a quick _dangerous_ precious few gallons so that you can help support your family? Maybe even bring back some semblance of honour?" Malfoy alluded, making Harry's full attention snap toward the blonde.

The way he was speaking made it seem like whatever this event was, it would be held during school. A potentially dangerous, money involved event that brings honour. It almost sounded like this year's assassination attempt, although that would be far too easy, if the boy-who-lived figured out the annual kill attempt right at the start of the year. Far too easy, therefore, Harry discarded the idea – Though remained curious about just what this event was.

"What are you talking about?" Ron snipped at the blonde, unlikely to be the best way of getting information.

" _Do you intend to enter_?" The blonde repeated, more slowly this time, "I suppose that Potter will, despite his new found sense of humour, he'd likely not miss the chance to show off and use his fame to advantage."

"Oh no, I'd never purposely enter something so dangerous. I consider my life worth more than a few gallons and potential glory, considering I have plenty of both." Harry stated dryly, pretending he knew exactly what the blonde was talking about – Getting inquiring looks from both of his friends.

"Oh, you haven't told your blood-traitour and mudblood?" Draco enthused, catching the looks that the two were sending the red-eyed boy, "I'll leave you to that, Potter."

Did he think such a simple thing would cause discord in the ' _Golden Trio_ '? Seems Malfoy didn't understand the three of them well enough, even after all these years. Still, the laughing Malfoy beckoned his thugs after him and they disappeared down the hall, Ron quickly slamming and locking the compartment door behind the Slytherin students.

"Harry?" Ron asked, almost spitefully.

"Come off it Ron, the robe jab was funny, not to mention true. As for what is happening this year, I had no clue. I just thought it was better if Malfoy thought I did." Harry explained, giving a vague hand-gesture toward where Draco had headed.

Ron didn't seem like he was in the mood to be reasonable though, as he ignored what Harry said, still completely red-faced with anger, and paced around their tiny compartment, "That stupid... Making it look like he knows everything. If Dad wanted he could have a promotion any time! He enjoys where he currently works though..."

"Don't let Malfoy get to you." Hermione said, trying to comfort, as well as calm down their hot-headed friend.

Harry restrained the urge to roll his eyes, "Listen Ron, the way to deal with Draco is just to break the routine. The second he thought he didn't understand something about me, or thought he might have underestimate me, he moved along to someone else. It's the way he was trained. Smile at him, the reaction will be worth it, compared to listening to the drivel that he makes up purposely to ignite rage with you."

"Really? You think that will actually work?" Ron stopped pacing, and looked contemplative. Inwardly, Harry remarked for the boy not to hurt himself by using his brain, but outwardly he just nodded.

The Potter didn't think that Ron was in the best place to accept his friends cutting brand of humour at the moment.

...

The train rolled to a stop a few hours later. Harry was quickly pulled to attention and away from his phone, where he had been writing out a few theories about the event that was seemingly taking place this year, as well as listening to music. Hermione bundled up her raggedly looking cat, Ron doing similarly to all his possessions as they left the train together, the rain still coming down at a considerable and unpleasant speed, especially considering this area rarely got anything other than ice cold precipitation. Not in the mood to do anything other than get out of the downpour, the three students quickly scuttled along, not paying any attention to the others around them. Eventually Ron, Hermione, and Harry climbed into one of the horseless carriages, Neville joining them soon after.

Harry rubbed his eyes free of liquid, looking at some of the passing carriages.

Blinked a few time -

Now, Harry knew well that he was perfectly sane. He might have spent his whole summer with his nose in one book or another, but he came out of it better than ever. Understanding the human condition better than most adults at that! Somehow though, Harry was seeing ghostly like images pulling the carriages, skeletal horses with wings. The last thing the red-eyed boy needed was the attention that would come with seeing horses on the 'horseless' carriages, and so he came to the executive decision to completely ignore the images. Not hard, when it seemed like he could only actually see them out of the corner of his eye.

Hogwarts came into view momentarily, so Harry placed his thoughts on coming home, as opposed to the things he _definitely had not just seen._

The trio hurried up the stairs and into the building. A sense of nostalgia, as always, filled Harry as he entered one of the most magical buildings there were. In that moment, Harry knew that despite his changes, his personal revolutions, he was still much the same when it came to his awe in the face of magic and the feeling that it arose in him.

 **R &R**

 **Shipping pole on my profile! What do you guys want, good or bad Snape? Let me know!~**


	3. Strengthening of Abhorrence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything that I've written. Yep, that's right, I own not even one iota of the below work.

 **Summary:** Harry became disenchanted with Dumbledore, so he works toward enlightenment, and this has several effects on the wizard, but what effects will it have on the world around him.

 **Authour Note:** Alright this chapter we have a few changes that will have a few ripples in the original story-line. Namely, the younger Creevey going into Slytherin. A big thing for this chapter is Harry strengthening his negative feelings for our dear Headmaster. Chapter One we got Harry realizing how the man was likely in a position to help free Sirius, but deciding not to, and today we get Harry realizing a bit of the potential child grooming the man does, as well as a lot of the over-dramatization.

Shipping pole has Luna in the lead, with Tonks in second, and Tom, Bella, George, and the Twins tied up for third. I've got to say, there is a surprising force behind the Luna ship. On my profile note about this ship I said something I think needs restating. No matter what, the winning pairing will be in my story, but that does _NOT_ necessarily mean that I will make it the end-game. If a pairing is picked that I greatly dislike, I would lose determination to write this fic. So, they might get together for a year or so, then break up. It is all dependent on the choices - but I _WILL_ respect the poll and your thoughts.

 **Chapter Three: Strengthening of** **Abhorrence**

...

After all the students made their mad dash for the schools wondrous torch-lit entrance hall, Hermione took out her wand and clicked it over the circle of friends with a muttered word. Of course, the start of the school year wouldn't be complete without a prank from the resident poltergeist, and Peeve's seemed to have no reason not to perform his annual ritual, as he started to drop icy cold, multi-coloured balloons on the passersby.

Harry and his friends made a suitable effort attempt to sneak past the ghost and into the Great Hall, consequently missing an angered Professour McGonagall scolding the immature being.

The trio split from Neville and fondly gazed upon the decorated dining hall. Golden plates and goblets, hundreds of candles, and four long tables full to the brim of relaxed and socializing students. Harry took to his seat and his friends followed the action. Harry could feel heavy set gazes upon him, but with all the practice he had in that particular field, he ignored it. It was actually a comfort, that this time they were looking at Harry for something he actually purposely did – The change that he made in himself – Rather than something that his parents had done, or something that he had no control over.

It was a feeling that he would savour, for it was unlikely to last long considering his fame.

"Hi there, Harry!" Colin Creevey spoke in his usual excitable tone.

The red-eyed boy knew that the third-year considered Harry with a form of hero worship, which before the summer the Potter would have shied away from. Now, the boy-who-lived wasn't that person, and instead turned toward Colin with a sort of mock-smile, almost a smirk, "Hello Colin, did you need something?"

"Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry?! My brother's starting! My brother Dennis!"

Harry committed the information to memory. Not because he particularly cared whether or not Dennis Creevey was being sorted this year, but because he planned to start launching a sort of 'test' for his potential future plans. The Potter knew he wasn't ready for the big legs yet in the information business – Getting Sirius Black acquitted would take time. That didn't mean that Harry couldn't get better at gathering and using information well still at Hogwarts. By the end of the year, Harry had promised himself to having some sort of info-brokering business going on inside of his school, or at the least, the raven haired boy would hoard all the information for himself. As was human nature, despite all things.

"That's excellent Colin, anything else that you want to tell me?" Harry mentioned, trying to keep his continence as pleasant as possible.

He ignored the surprised looks that he was getting from his friends for his new pendent for social interaction.

"He's just as excited as I was!" Exclaimed the, perhaps equally excited, Colin Creevey, "I just hope he's in Gryffindor! Cross your fingers for that one."

"I'm sure no matter what house your brother gets into, it will be the one that will benefit him the most." Harry casually suggested, watching Colin for a reaction. It would be interesting to see if such an innocent seeming person had any obvious bias, the Wizarding World at large seemed to, but individuals were much more interesting.

As predicted, the Creevey flinched slightly at the suggestion.

"Well... I just hope that he comes to Gryffindor with me." Colin stated, much more firmly than before, and his excitable nature seeming to actually calm some. This, all from the subtle indication that Harry made toward his brother going into a different house. Not even Slytherin, just a different house in general. Perhaps Harry was getting a bit ahead of himself, after all, it could just be that Colin wanted his brother to simply be with him.

"Where's the new DADA teacher?" asked Hermione, who was searching the head table for a new face.

The need for a new DADA teacher was created by another bias in the Wizarding World, one against Werewolves, as Professour Lupin, who had thus far been the best DADA teacher the school had in years, was fired for something he had no control over. Now another Professour would take his place, hopefully just as skilled and knowledgeable, but the most likely scenario was quite the opposite, considering the current numbers.

"Let's just get this over with, I'm so hungry I would eat just about anything." Ron groused, his leg bouncing impatiently.

Perhaps the Weasley finally bad some hidden power that Harry didn't know about, because as soon as those words left Ron's lips, the doors to the Great Hall burst open and a group of socked – Likely to be sick the next day – First years entered, following closely behind an strict looking McGonagall.

 _A thousand years or more ago,_

 _When I was newly sewn,_

 _There lived four wizards of renown,_

 _Whose names are still well known:_

 _Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,_

 _Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,_

 _Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,_

 _Shrewd Slytherin, from fen._

 _They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,_

 _They hatched a daring plan_

 _To educate young sorcerers_

 _Thus Hogwarts School began._

 _Now each of these four founders_

 _Formed their own house, for each_

 _Did value different virtues_

 _In the ones they had to teach._

 _By Gryffindor, the bravest were_

 _Prized far beyond the rest;_

 _For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_

 _Would always be the best;_

 _For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_

 _Most worthy of admission;_

 _And power-hungry Slytherin_

 _Loved those of great ambition._

 _While still alive they did divide_

 _Their favorites from the throng,_

 _Yet how to pick the worthy ones_

 _When they were dead and gone?_

 _'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,_

 _He whipped me off his head_

 _The founders put some brains in me_

 _So I could choose instead!_

 _Now slip me snug about your ears,_

 _I've never yet been wrong,_

 _I'll have a look inside your mind_

 _And tell where you belong!_

(Book Four: Chapter Twelve Pages 176-177)

Applause erupted after the hat finished it's little, or rather, long poem. It made Harry curious about that hat though. The Potter could remember the hat speaking to him, and if books were to be trusted, the hat came up with those poems that it spoke all on its own. Therefore it had its own intelligence, and it went into the heads of every new student each year. That made it a well of information – and Harry had a new found interest in such things that drove him.

Mentally he noted to himself to research more about that hat and it's abilities and history, perhaps to make something similar on his own.

The sorting continued, McGonagall reading names off a familiar looking scroll.

"Creevey, Dennis!"

An excited, but worried Colin Creevey watched his brother struggle up to the stool and have the ragged looking hat placed on his head. It took quite a bit, in fact, it was the longest sorting thus far, until finally the hat yelled out something that Harry hadn't been expecting, "SLYTHERIN!"

Harry found feel his eyebrows raise, when he'd talked to Colin about the sorting of his brother, he hadn't expected something like this. Siblings tended to have similar personalities, which is why they would come end up in the same house more often than not. One in Gryffindor and the other in Slytherin was quite the difference between them. A situation worth monitoring – If only to understand the way the bias of the Wizarding World would push the two apart.

Sortings were more interesting than Harry had predicted, he found feel himself filling with an excited energy, lips pulling up into a smirk at the observations he knew were to come. Never mind the possibilities of use the Slytherin Creevey would represent if used correctly...

The sorting went by rather uneventfully after that, and it wasn't long before Professour Dumbledore stood and allowed his magically empowered voice to spread across the entire Hall, "Tuck in."

Food appeared across all the tables – Harry found it particularly dramatic and overdone.

His research into Hogwarts rules and regulations had lead to the Potter realizing that house elves were used to make the food and do the dinners. This meant that Dumbledore had to have discussed with the elves the fact that they were to appear the food at a suitably dramatic moment.

Made this way, perhaps, to make the little children think about him in awe, after all he could conjure a whole feast! Then, those same children would grow up with that sense of awe in the man. It was a subtle form of child grooming that Harry doubted was likely to be recognized as true, even if he were to bring it up to other Professours. It did, however, solidify the now red-eyed boys opinion on Albus Dumbledore. Such a simple thing, but it was telling, no matter what his reasons behind it were.

As they ate, Harry absentmindedly listened to the ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, as he gave the latest castle gossip, "It's a miracle there was a feast at all tonight considering the trouble that Peeves set upon the kitchen today. Of course, the usual occurred, Peeves wanted to attend the feast and the Baron put him in his place. This didn't make the prankster happy, and he sought vengeance by wrecking the kitchen, absolutely terrified the house-elves, I don't think I've seen them like that in my entire existence!"

"No..." Hermione whispered in borderline horrour, "There are house-elves here? _Here_ at _Hogwarts_?"

Harry could foresee her oncoming realization, considering her grief-struck look, however, he couldn't help but think it would close-minded of the girl. Perhaps he was underestimating his friend a bit though –

"I've not seen a single house-elf in my time here. They get paid though, right? Holidays, and sick leave, pensions, stuff like that?"

The ghost _laughed_ at her, it wasn't a genuine laugh either, it was mocking and high-pitched, something the Gryffindor ghost had never done before, "Sick leave and pensions? House-elves don't want sick leave and pensions!"

"Oh my ... All this time, I've been enjoying the product of _slave labour_... Me?!" Hermione seemed borderline hysterical at the thought.

"Calm down." Harry spoke, rolling his eyes right to her face without a care for the dirty look that she sent him afterwards, "Don't put your Muggle World perspective on the Wizarding World society without research or understanding. I personally don't care much one way or the other, but you aren't thinking objectively. For all you know, the house-elves need to serve and complete orders to live. That might be their form of sustenance. You're being incredibly over-dramatic right now, and I expected better of you, to be perfectly honest."

Harry placed his chin on his hand and just stared Hermione down as he finished his little speech, practically daring her to say something about it.

She didn't – But she stubbornly refused to eat another bite.

Her raven haired friend found this stubbornness to be mindless and borderline stupid. Then again, his morals were probably a good deal looser than hers, which was probably were the problem lay. It was Harry's dislike of her current attitude that lead to his finding Ron's immature teasing a moment later so hilarious, "Treacle tart, spotted dick, and look! Chocolate cake!"

The stern look that their friend gave them afterwards was enough to shut Ron up, but certainly not enough to get Harry to stop his laughing.

"So!" Dumbledore interrupted, his eyes twinkling in a deceptively friendly manner, "As we all have full, happy stomachs, I must make an important announcement."

Usual reminders about the caretakers ever-expanding list of banned objects – Now containing over four hundred and thirty items, and the forest being out-of-bounds and dangerous for students. Then, the more interesting announcement started, "I also regret to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not be taking place this year."

Quidditch had been part of the mask, so it didn't have any real impact on Harry, as he'd been planning on quitting this year anyway, but the Potter did find it interesting. A direct correlation could be made with the event that Malfoy had mentioned before, as that would be happening at school if the current information gathered was correct. Surely enough, "This is due to an event starting up this year that will take place through the school year. So, I can now with immense pleasure announce that Hogwarts will be –-

 _Bang_

The doors to the Great Hall opened and a intimidating sort of figure stepped out of the shadows. A scarred looking man, with a heavy demeanor that sent the new first years into shivers of fear. He made his way across the room in the deafening silence toward the unfazed Dumbledore.

"May I introduce our new DADA Professour, Alastor Moody." Dumbledore broke, shattering the mystery that had made the man seem ever more intimidating only a few moments ago.

Everyone just continued to stare at him, and the man seemed pretty much uncaring for the attention, ignoring it and pulling out a flask, which he took a large swig of. Harry absentmindedly assumed it must be some form of alcohol, otherwise it would have just been served in front of him, and he wouldn't have had to drink it from a flask in front of the student body.

"Now, as I was saying before, Hogwarts has the honour of hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year."

Fred Weasley seemed to notice the change to break the tense atmosphere, and went for it without pause, "You've got to be JOKING!"

Laughter erupted, even from some of the less high strung Professours gave a chuckle, and Dumbledore's eyes seemed to light up even farther somehow, "I'm certainly not joking, Mr. Weasley. The Triwizard Tournament is thus; established around seven hundred years ago between the European schools, which a single champion of each school represents the whole, and they complete three magical tasks. Eventually, the death toll grew too high for the continuation to be logical, and the tournament was discontinued."

For a moment, Harry wondered if it actually _was_ the yearly assassination attempt – It did seem to be the path of least resistance. It was an idea that he'd previously discarded, but the situation seemed far more involved than the red-eyed boy had previously assumed. Suitable for the annual killing attempt – Despite previous thoughts.

"The heads of the schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive with their possible contenders in October and the selection will take place at Halloween, the students to be chosen traditionally, using the Triwizard Cup. The contenders will bring glory to their school, and one thousand galleons of prize money."

A thousand galleons was an adorable amount compared to the mountains of gold that Harry had just moved from his old back about a month prior. Had Harry ever intended on putting his name in for consideration – Which he hadn't been – The small prize certainly wasn't enough to entice the reaction out of him.

"Although I'm sure several of you are eager to place your names," Dumbledore went on, ignoring the reverent whispering students across the hall were making, and looking almost knowingly at Harry, "However for the safety of the students all parties involved have agreed that only students who are of age in the Wizarding World will be able to put their name in for consideration."

Cries of outrage sparked, but Harry simply tried to hide his scowl. The old man had some pretty presumptuous thoughts about his precious boy-who-lived a moment ago, seeming to assume that Harry wanted in on the action. Perhaps he assumed that part of the child grooming he'd done on Harry would compel him forward? _Moronic_ , Harry thought to himself, _I surely wouldn't compete for the honour of this school, which can't even accurately protect the students that it houses._

"Considering lessons start tomorrow morning, I suggest that we all depart for our beds." Dumbledore finished, clapping his hands as if congratulating himself on the little speech – At least, that was what it seemed like to a still mildly annoyed Harry, who lifted his chin off its resting place on his hand and stood up, intending to go straight to bed. Tomorrow would be a busy day, especially considering the impending conversation he'd be having with his Head of House.

Weasley's seemed far more interested in sticking around and day-dreaming about money.

"We're seventeen in a matter of months, it's not far, and for that prize money as well." One of the twins spoke, looking uncharacteristically angered.

Now that Harry thought about it, the twins were usually far more happy-go-lucky than to be angered at _anything_ , "If it gets me to bed sooner, I'll pay you the thousand galleons."

A thousand galleons came out to roughly ten-thousand dollars. Harry spent double that this summer for magical experiments, and despite his way to spend his money wisely, he almost considered just throwing the money at his friends if it got them to move their ass. Harry needed his beauty sleep, if he wanted to continue looking as good as he currently did.

It was an objective opinion too – He was incredibly handsome for his age, especially since he had tamed his hair and got fitted clothing.

Ron looked almost angered and jealous at the offer, but the twins – They seemed almost thoughtful. This, in turn, made Harry curious, but at the moment the young wizard was far too interested in getting to bed, so they started to make their way for the entrance hall and up the moving staircase to their common room. It didn't take them long to get there, dodging the trick steps with practiced precision, and slipping in behind someone that actually knew the password.

Hermione quickly went up to her dormitory, seeming too lost in thought to even say goodbye.

Harry went up to his own dormitory, followed by Ron and Neville, and the room was typical for this house. Four posted beds with crimson all around, trunks already deposited at the foot of the beds. Likely the product of house-elves, which Hermione would probably get a kick out of discovering soon enough.

As they got dressed, Ron spoke to Harry with almost careful deliberation, "If Fred and George discovered how to enter, you don't suppose you would... Do you?"

"I would avoid it like the plague. I have enough money and glory for a life time, and I certainly don't need to go earning it for this school." Harry answered truthfully, before climbing into bed and placing his phone next to him, checking to make sure the deception runes were active, and setting the alarm for tomorrow morning.

He was asleep a moment later, and even in his dreams, he was planning several ideas for his future and dreams. Scenarios of how he'd go about getting Sirius free, and a small smile formed on his lips at the reaction his godfather would have should it work, or a frown when it didn't.

But it would – Eventually, and no matter what it took, Sirius would be free, even if Harry needed to destroy Dumbledore first.

 **R &R**

 **Alright guys, I really need to know coming up, do we want nice Snape or mean Snape? Either can fall into what I want for the story, let me know, okay?**


	4. Lessons in Human Significance

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything that I've written. Yep, that's right, I own not even one iota of the below work.

 **Summary:** Harry became disenchanted with Dumbledore, so he works toward enlightenment, and this has several effects on the wizard, but what effects will it have on the world around him.

 **Authour Note:** Alright so this chapter... I don't know. I think it will show off a lot about Harry's current personality and help me to better develop his character. I have no idea if I love it, or completely hate it. Draco and Harry currently have a rather complicated relationship - which is quite clearly displayed in this chapter. They are struggling to find some sort of neutrality, but Harry broke it. Guess we'll have to see where that goes.

Now, the **relationship pole on my profile** has undergone some changes. Luna is still easily winning, but I had to remove Tonks. At first I thought I would know how to write her in, but I've come to the conclusion I really have no idea how I'd pull it off. Also, I added in Draco and Neville as possible ships. Please vote and throw your say into the mix.

 **Chapter Four: Lessons in Human Significance**

...

Harry was startled awake by his alarm, which he swiftly turned off. It was a nice way to start the day, feeling completely and utterly neutral to everything. He didn't have a good, or a bad sleep, he wasn't feeling annoyed or tired, but not particularly happy or well rested either. That meant his day had a lot of potential, because if it started out good, all there was left to go was down.

Getting up from his bed, he looked toward the still closed curtains around the other Gryffindor beds, and shook his head lightly – Heading in to take a shower, bringing a change of clothes with him. No one else seemed to be up yet, but then, they weren't the ones that had a rather important meeting to discuss their future today – So it made sense. He got dressed in his now typical long sleeved black shirt and fitted black jeans with a black belt and high-top sneakers, and looked in the mirrour. The green was starting to spill back into his eyes, and the scar was also starting to fade back in.

Harry had noticed that his Metamorphmagus ability tended to fade if he didn't renew it every day, especially when it came to his scar and eyes. His hair usually stayed straight and at the correct style, but for some reason other aspects seemed to prove themselves difficult.

He went back to bed and started up his laptop, activating the runes that connected his keyboard with his spiral notebook and pen. Making sure that it worked, he started for McGonagall's office.

As Harry made his way, his brain listed all the important talking points and responses, so as to not become unbalanced in the conversation, and before he knew it, the Potter was standing right in front of a familiar way, the door was open already showing a deep in thought Head-of-House.

"Professour, I was hoping to speak with you for a minute." Harry started.

"Please come in then, Mr. Potter." She said, not looking up at the moment, but when she did, her eyes went wide and ran over her student, her eyes going stern but with an unfamiliar glint to them, "Mr. Potter, what is wrong with your eyes, and by Merlin boy, where are your robes?"

Normally, the woman was far more composed, but there seemed to be a deep seeded worry in her, if Harry was reading the woman's behavior clues correctly. From his own memories, he knew that Professour McGonagall wasn't one to worry needlessly, and if she was upset about the robes, the worry wouldn't be present, only the typical stern behaviors. So, she was worried about the red-eye colour. No need to hide the reason behind it, and Harry didn't want his Professours worrying about him so much that they paid too close attention –

"I'm a Metamorphmagus, although my ability is somewhat lacking in the area, I can do basic transformations." Harry absently explained, "As for the robes, there is no rule stating that I must wear them, and I feel that their overly bulky nature interferes with my ability to concentrate. I was extremely thorough with my checking of the rules on this issue, so I wouldn't bother trying to look for yourself, it would be a waste of time. All of which, is beside the point. I came to talk to you about the future of my education here."

The woman went through an array of emotions, pleasant shock at the idea of her student being a Metamorphmagus, to angered and insulted about the robe issue, but it smoothed out into professionalism the second Harry mentioned his education, "I will look into the robe matters despite your words, but tell me what it is you are here for this morning."

Harry had expected no less, but couldn't help the amused curl to his lips at the idea of his Professour going through rule books in an attempt to find an non-existent rule, "I want to drop everything other than Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, DADA, and Potions, and take that freed up time to study for taking all the extra O.W.L's offered at this school. Including Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, History, Divination, and Muggle Studies."

 _Silence._

"Even Ms. Granger couldn't handle such a workload, although I am quite encouraged by your new found want to learn, Mr. Potter, I don't see how I could possibly accept such a request." McGonagall finally answered, after a a few moments of stunned thought.

"I thought you might say something like that – Which is why I get the privilege of telling you that you have no choice." Harry gave a careless shrug, seeming annoyingly nonchalant. "You see, it's the guardians place to decide on choices like these regarding my education, and I already have written orders from my wondrous muggle relatives saying that the decision is perfectly okay. So, to be perfectly blunt, I'm doing this regardless of your wishes on the matter."

"25 Points from Gryffindor for such blatant disrespect of your Professour." McGonagall snapped, but seemed otherwise frustrated at the situation she was placed in. Potter had made an airtight case, and from the almost satisfied look on his face, the boy knew it as well.

It reminded her of someone she preferred to forget – A student that she had gone to school with herself. This student pretty much always got his way, and, if the Transfiguration Mistress remembered correctly, he had also done all of his O.

The situation was pretty futile, if she recognized that level of determination correctly but still, "Mr. Potter, please rethink this. Such a work load will cause you to burn out before you end the year, never mind your fifth."

"I don't think I will." Harry said simply, giving his Professour an almost practiced smile, "Thank you for your help Professour, I can't wait to see my timetables at breakfast. I'm sure we will all have a great year together. I'm looking forward to learning a lot."

Considering the amount of almost blatant disrespect, both parties read that as pretty much bullshit, if one would be so blunt. Harry sauntered out of the room a moment later, making his way down to breakfast without pause, or looking back on the worried, borderline suspicious teacher.

The red-eyed boy knew that he was being overly confrontational, and he knew that it would have effects that he didn't want. Although he didn't care about points of things of the like, he'd originally wanted to keep out of the spot light of a teachers suspicion, and that certainly wasn't something he'd accomplished. The answer to why he was so harsh was actually something Harry personally hadn't been expecting, since dropping the mask, Harry felt... Slighted by the woman. She was clearly blinded to every opinion other than Dumbledore's, and she didn't possess an open enough mind to actually listen to her students. As she'd proved in Harry's first year when they warned her about Voldemort going after the stone.

McGonagall just wasn't someone that could be trusted, and Harry hadn't been taught to pretend playing polite with someone that he disliked – Not without his well practiced Boy-Who-Lived mask anyway.

...

A scowling McGonagall handed Harry his rather empty timetable around the middle of breakfast, Harry only giving her smirk as he received it. Somehow he doubted that the woman was scowling about the meeting – No, this scowl was far more likely caused by the fact she couldn't find a rule about actually wearing the robes, just that they were to be bought.

Everyone just assumed that they must be worn as well.

No one would make a big deal about getting a new rule made just for one student that wasn't wearing traditional clothing. Even if one was made, Harry just wouldn't abide by it. He hadn't been exaggerating about robes being an unneeded distraction. This was beside the point, even when Hermione looked at him in disappointment on the issue, apparently agreeing with their Transfiguration Professour. It was easy enough to ignore his friends looks though, he'd been doing it for years now.

"Despite the whole robe issue, I am happy that you will be taking the time to learn something interesting instead of taking Divination, Harry. Learning something like Runes and Arithmancy will actually help you in the long run, unlike that 'easy outstanding' subject you originally decided on." As Hermione spoke, she looked rather pointedly at Ron.

"I see that you have decided to eat again." Ron retorted, but was too busy stuffing his mouth for it to be anything close to cutting.

Hermione gained a superior air around her, "I thought about it, and decided that I would find a better way of standing up for the house-elves."

"Ahuh... I bet you were just hungry." Ron finished, a grin spreading across his face.

Harry however, wasn't feeling so generous, "You're being a little bit hypocritical my dear Hermione. You can either believe in the elves right and not take advantage of the _slave labour_ , or you can be a hypocrite that says one thing and does the other. Never mind the fact that you seemed to have discarded my advice about researching first rather handedly. I'm almost disappointed, but then I realized that your personality shouldn't have lead me to expecting better."

Hermione's eyes got wide for a moment, and she seemed genuinely hurt, "Harry..."

"Woah, Mate, don't you think that's a bit too much?" Ron spoke, seeing shocked at his friends words, and looking worriedly toward their bushy haired friend.

Harry almost continued on with his previous attitude, but bit it back when he noticed Hermione's eyes glassing over. Maybe it wasn't right, to take out his realizations and frustrations about McGonagall on his friend, which was only part of the problem, he also didn't like stupidity, but he held back for Ron's sake, why not Hermione's.

"Look, you want to stand up for what you believe in – Whatever. Just keep a wider scope in mind." Harry finally replied a moment later.

Hermione cleared her throat, and lowered her voice slightly, noticing the attention that they were starting to pick up from their fellow classmates, "What do you mean?"

Keeping Hermione's apparent emotional fragility in mind, Harry explained, "You think you are doing something for the good of the Wizarding World, but you are doing it without actually _knowing_ anything. I can think of a few large scale examples of this thought type, namely Hitler, or perhaps Voldemort, if I wanted to be as extreme as possible. Of course, I don't expect you to go all Dark Mistress Hermione; Leader of the House-Elf Rebellion, but the thought process is definitely there."

The hurt seemed to fade from Hermione's eyes as she thought over the words, but it seemed that they wouldn't be having time for a response, as they all hurried along to Herbology.

...

Herbology, was as usual, rather uninformative to Harry and what he planned in life. Never mind the planned lesson had been rather disgusting and almost degrading to have to perform, in Harry's opinion. There were people who did menial jobs like that for money, and it should probably be kept to them.

Bubotubers, of all things.

Although Harry had hide his dislike of the project better than one Seamus Finnigan, he was sure that the feeling was written all across his face.

Apparently he pus that they had collected was perfect for acne treatment, which cheered Harry right up in a vein way. He no longer would ever suffer from that particular problem, considering his ability. One of the lesser advantages, but never turn down a free advantage – Right?

After that, Harry had a free period which was used to write notes on important information pieces in Arithmancy and Runes, essentially creating a chapter outline for both subjects. Thus far, Harry was most satisfied with his study in Runes, which had proved incredibly useful. The multiple runic languages were somewhat like written spells that activated in certain circumstances, and had interesting effects in particular orders. In other words, the usefulness wasn't to be denied as the limitations were typical the imagination of the wizard that was using the Runes. Harry was so intent on outlining the first few chapters of both subjects that he almost missed lunch.

He couldn't go proving McGonagall right though, could he?

After a quick bit of lunch, a simple roast beef sandwich, Harry just opened his books up on the lunch table, uncaring toward the idea of moving when it saved a lot of time to just do his work where he was. History and Care of Magical Creatures were quickly outlined as well, Harry didn't even register when both of his friends went off to their own classes – Or in Hermione's case – The Library.

Harry might have thought he was neglecting his friends when compared to the previous years, but that wasn't exactly true. He was doing his work during class times that he no longer had, and using the time more efficiently. When classes ended for the day, or on actual breaks, Harry would socialize just like all the other humans beings, weak as they were in their need for interaction.

"Potter."

The voice was familiar, and suitably neutral. Harry looked over toward the blonde pureblood that had spoken. He was looking down at Harry with an appraising eye, but it seemed somehow disgusted as well – Likely because Harry was wearing muggle clothing, to once again showcase Wizarding World bias.

"You've changed a lot over the summer, Potter. Why is that?" He sounded a mix of truly curious, and information fishing.

Information fishing was now an action that Harry could get behind, at least, when it was faced toward just about anyone other than himself, "I grew up a bit, and I got a makeover."

After which, Harry got up and went to one of the various empty classrooms to study, ignoring any farther queries from the Malfoy heir. He wouldn't be making the mistake of doing so in the Great Hall again after that experience. Not that it was a bad experience, just that Harry didn't want to accidentally do something in the Great Hall that would give people information on him that he didn't want. Never mind the fact that he wouldn't be able to use his technology in the Great Hall – Something that should have occurred to the raven haired boy before he bad opened his books.

 _A lesson learned is an action not repeated_. Harry thought to himself ruefully.

On the way, Harry spotted something of interest, causing him to hide behind a corner and observe.

Two little Creevey brothers having an argument – and a now familiar grin spread across Harry's lips as his mind worked out ways that the new information could be used. This was a plan to be executed another day though, better to let the brothers stew in their arguments for a few days before making a move.

Harry was rather glad that Colin hadn't listened to the advice given to him at the sorting, if this was the outcome the Potter got.

...

The Trio let up a few hours later when on their way to dinner, Ron promptly complaining about getting homework from Divination.

"Looks like I escaped that narrowly enough." Harry remarked, an actual friendly grin to the red-head.

"You know, Professour Vector didn't give us any homework. Too bad you decided to take up such an _useless_ subject, Ron." Hermione teased the red-head with a rather bright demeanor. Of course, Hermione would be the type who became more cheery as a long day of schooling unfolded.

"Weasley! Wait up a moment!" Exclaimed Draco Malfoy, who apparently had not been in Harry's presence enough today. As was typical, Draco was followed by his thugs – Which Harry was starting to think didn't deserve their own name considering their apparent inability to come up with an opinion all on their own. At least, that was how it seemed from the way they always had nothing to do other than follow around the young Malfoy.

Ron actually surprised Harry by responding in a reasonably curt and polite fashion, "What?"

"You'll never guess who made the front page! It's not Potter for once, but perhaps just as interesting. Listen to this –

 ** _FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC_**

 _It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent._

 _Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office._

 _Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and at-tempted murder._

 _Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene."_

(Book Four Pages 202 and 203)

"Seems as if the reports couldn't even get your father's name correctly! It's practically like he doesn't even exist." Malfoy commented, feeling some sort of superiority over Ron because of the article – As though the blonde needed more of a reason.

Ron looked about ready to blow up at the blonde, he was quaking with fury, his fists clenched tightly. It seemed, should violence occur, as was typical for humans, Ron wouldn't bother with taking out his wand this time. He'd probably be pounding the poor aristocrats face in with a well aimed fist.

"You think you're special, Draco? Coming over here as though you're somehow better than Ron, with such a smug look in your eyes. I'm here to tell you, you aren't special Draco. You're a copy, there isn't anything original about you." Harry paused for a moment, making sure to meet the blondes eyes with steady red globes. If Malfoy had been projecting a feeling of superiority, there wasn't a work for the oppressive feeling that Harry was filling the air with – Yet, the Potter spoke almost quietly, only Ron, Hermione, and Draco could hear him, perhaps for the best.

"You're attitude, actions and oh my! – Even the way you look – It's all modeled after someone else. If you were dead, the world couldn't miss you, because it wouldn't even notice you were gone. You're insignificant just like everyone else, no, you're more so because of your own actions. If you died, there is still another Lucius Malfoy." Harry spoke, cutting as deep as possible with each word, making sure that the blonde understood his own insignificance as much as possible.

The words probably wouldn't have been so effective, had they not been so completely true.

The Malfoy shied away from Harry's eyes and practically wilted in on himself, before the boy seemed to remember his training and held his head high, seemingly intend on walking away – As though It would give him the last word.

"What do we have here?" A gruff voice spoke from behind the trio.

Harry spun around to face their new DADA Professour, who looked just as intimidating as before, his wand was actually drawn, making the Potter wonder how long he'd been there. Harry sincerely hoped it hadn't been too long, otherwise he'd likely be getting some points taken off for his words.

He probably deserved it, for falling into old patterns as he'd promised himself he wouldn't.

"A little disagreement about something that the Profit wrote, nothing serious." Harry said, his tone making an abrupt turn from a drawling taunt, to a smoother conversational sort.

"Really? It didn't seem like that was the case. You sure the Malfoy isn't bothering you, boy?" The practically growling man asked.

Well, at least the DADA Professour wasn't the type that was unable to read the air. Likely helpful in his past profession. Still, Harry had no intention of allowing Draco to get in trouble for teasing Ron, when that would more than likely reveal his own wrong-doing.

"I'm quite sure, sir. Even if he had, I'm sure he's learned his lesson. After all, Lucius Malfoy without raise an utter fool, I'm sure." Harry alluded, smirk spreading wide once more, shooting a look at the Malfoy that was attempting to stand proud and tall. He was also failing, looking almost blue from how pale he'd gotten.

"I don't suppose he would." Moody said, walking toward the Malfoy, who took a step back, not bothering to hide his fear of the teacher, "After all, that Lucius somehow managed to worm passed every charge placed on him. A cunning fellow, that one. Perhaps you'll tell your Daddy that his old friend Moody is watching his son nice and close – Won't you?"

Malfoy just nodded hastily in agreement.

"I don't like you either, boy." Moody suddenly announced, looking back at the now surprised Harry James Potter, "I've seen those eyes before, I wouldn't forget them... I've got my eye on you."

As if on queue, the mans magical eye started to spin uncontrollably, making Harry very much want to research it - If only to protect him from the new threat that seemed to be in front of him.

"Off you go! Nothing to see here!" The Professour suddenly announced, only then did Harry notice the crowd which had gathered since Moody had entered the confrontation.

It was a good source of information though, this little argument – Harry could easily say now that Moody disliked the Malfoy's as their carriers had set them as enemies. The Potter already had enough dirty to essentially ruin the elder Malfoy when he thought about it. After all, he did have memories of the Malfoy placing the diary in Ginny Weasley's things, and of the Malfoy attempting to kill Harry after the Dobby situation.

That didn't mean that Harry didn't want to know more, especially in regards to how the Malfoy related to their new Professour, considering it was usually the DADA Professour that had something to do with the yearly life attempt, especially after that comment about 'not likely' Harry.

The trio continued on their way to the Great Hall for dinner after that little spat untouched.

"Wow, Harry. I know that you've been harsh lately but... That certainly wasn't called for." Hermione mentioned, almost cautiously.

"Pfft! Are you kidding? That was amazing, I want to commit this to memory – That look on Malfoy's face as you ruined him... Priceless." Ron was practically giddy. Too happy to have noticed the little piece that Moody had said about his friend, apparently.

Harry was disappointed with himself though, so instead of replying farther, just gave a shrug.

Clearly, despite his intelligence having increased and his attitude having changed quite a bit, Harry was far too volatile for his chosen job. The Character never had outbursts of anger like that, and for good reason. If you lost your cool in front of a client, why would they want to hire you again? Especially for such an intellectually involved job. This simply wouldn't do. Harry didn't mind his wit, or even the horribly cutting remarks that he'd been making, but the abrasiveness needed to be addressed.

He needed to change.

A mask wouldn't do, no, Harry wanted to be himself. After this summer, he had come to realize that his incredibly short human life was just that, short. Pretending to be someone that he wasn't happened to be a waste of time. If Harry wanted to fix this problem, he'd have to change himself.

Not exactly an easy task –

"Don't tell me you're already going back to the library?! You just said that you had no homework." Ron suddenly exclaimed, dragging Harry's attention.

"I'm researching... Harry was right, I don't know anything about the House-Elves, and I need to if I want to potentially do something about the situation." Hermione said, actually giving a grateful look toward her raven haired friend.

Harry was surprised, but gave the girl a small smile, "Good for you Hermione."

The girl rushed off, leaving Ron to stare at her back in continued confusion, "I'll never understand her, how can she put herself up for _more_ work?"

Harry didn't reply, just got up himself and made his way toward the Gryffindor Common Area, although he did get some amusement from the way Ron bemoaned about having lost his friend to Hermione's craziness. There was too much to plan though, so Harry needed a little bit of quiet, and laying down in bed was one of the best ways to accomplish this.

And to decide just how he wanted to change himself next. After all, as the character had said, _To enjoy life, one must constantly evolve._

 **R &R**

 **So, what do you guys think I should do about the gun problem? Involving technology but not involving explaining guns would be moronic, but I won't have Harry being O.P because of muggle weapons to the point he could just shot Dumbledore or Voldemort and be done with it. I have an idea, but I'd love your opinions on the matter.**


	5. Of Predilection and Disquiet

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything that I've written. Yep, that's right, I own not even one iota of the below work.

 **Summary:** Harry became disenchanted with Dumbledore, so he works toward enlightenment, and this has several effects on the wizard, but what effects will it have on the world around him.

 **Authour Note:** Alright so this chapter we have a lot of friend making going on, a change in attitude because of the realizations one of the friends has brought on, and I don't know, some OOC characters? I tried my best to write them, especially Luna, but I wasn't sure I got it completely right.

Now the **relationship pole on my profile** will likely be closing within the next few chapters or so. If you want to give your say for the ship, please do so now, or soon, preferably after you leave me a review telling me how horrible this chapter was because I can't write a good character for the life of me. Currently we have Luna, closely followed by Tom with the Twins running up third place. You can get more exactly numbers on my profile.

 **Chapter Four: Of** **Predilection and Disquiet**

...

 _If you truly want to continue escaping from everyday life, you've no other choice but to keep evolving. No matter whether you're aiming higher or lower, and enjoy life for what it is._

As Harry understood the meaning of the Characters words – The world was going to keep moving, keep changing, and if you didn't want to become someone that was _mediocre_ than you needed to change with it. The Potter had chosen to undergo a personal evolution. It wasn't as easy as just choosing that it was what he wanted though, no, he needed an idea or trait, something to actually change himself into.

Thus far, his wish was to be more like the character in beliefs and aims – Did Harry actually want to become even more like the character? To take up their general attitude?

Did that make Harry just as bad as Draco Malfoy – Who'd had just been ripped apart for his imitation of his own father?

"Hello..." A soft voice drifted off from behind Harry, who was currently sat in the library, staring at his book, but not quiet reading it.

Harry turned around, his red eyes meeting silvery blue. Giving the female before him a glance over, recognition rang in his mind. Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw from the year below him. Harry didn't know much about her, other than the fact she was considered rather strange in conjunction to being Ginny Weasley's friend at some point. Lifting a questioning brow, Harry stared at her for a moment, wondering what she wanted.

 _Silence._

They stared at one another for at least a minute, neither speaking, but Harry finding himself feeling almost awkward.

"Was there something that you wanted?" Harry eventually broke and asked.

The girl just gave an almost absent smile, "No, I just wanted to say hello. "

 _Silence._

"... You're Luna Lovegood right? I'm Harry Potter." The red-eyed boy finally said, for lack of anything else to say, but wanting to break that awkward silence. Most human beings weren't comfortable with silence, although this drifty blonde seemed to be outside of the norm.

"That is my name, nice to meet you." The blonde gave the raven haired boy another smile, but went silent and just stared at him again.

Finally, Harry seemed to gather his wits about him and just give the girl a little smirk, "You're doing that on purpose aren't you?"

"People say that when a conversational partner can't stand for long pauses, thinking that it is awkward, they aren't comfortable in the presence of the one they are conversing with. Am I abnormal?" Lune asked, tilting her head softly to the side, but she didn't look unhappy or offended, rather, beneath those dazed looking eyes was genuine curiosity.

Harry wondered how thinking about changing himself had come to a conversation with such a character, "Normal is conforming to a standard, being the usual, typical, or expected. Who would want to be normal when you could be extraordinary, or weird, but actually interesting. So no, I don't think that you are what could be considered normal, but that's probably a good thing."

The Potter thought better of making note that underneath it all, humans were the same. They were all greedy and mean when pleasantries were stripped from them.

"You don't really believe that." Lune suddenly spoke, but the small smile on her face hadn't faded, "It's nice of you to be so kind though. I came to the library because I thought I could research Umgubular Slashkilters, I wish to help prove the fact Cornelius Fudge has one, you see. He uses it to help make people believe what he says – As it makes people more susceptible to words when it sprays them with gublarkilter – their venom."

Harry felt a bit naked from the way the girl could _see_ him. It wasn't just that though, the fact that the blonde just called him out on his white lie without a second thought, or even a pause. The bit about Umgubular Slashkilters was a bit weird, but that clearly wasn't indicative of the females actual intelligence if she could read the red-eyed boy so naturally.

The unsettling feeling faded and was replaced with interest.

It was one of the first times that Harry could see why the character actually _enjoyed_ humans. Previously, Harry had noted that humans were interesting, an unpredictable race that had truly no written rules. This Luna seemed to defy so many of the norms, and was able to look passed the fronts that people put on – Even the one that Harry himself had been using. A chuckle erupted from Harry without his permission, and he was looking, dare he say it, fondly upon the younger Ravenclaw.

There was an instinct within him to test just how unusual she was, to see if she was different from humans in general – Maybe she wasn't the typical human, lustful and greedy beneath her actions.

He quickly discarded the idea though, passing as it was, because there was a far more interesting way to go about learning more about Luna Lovegood. This was especially true considering the way she helped Harry to discover just want he wanted, "You, Luna Lovegood, are a gift."

Harry closed his text books and stood up, standing right in front of her and gazing into her unfocused eyes, "You've helped me a lot, you see. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next, but this little conversation reminded me of something that pushed my thought process on."

It had, surely enough. Her oddity reminded Harry that humans were all so alike, despite the few exceptions. So why couldn't he be like the character? It wasn't as if anyone would know, especially in the Wizarding World. He could mimic the man to his heart's content, and it was unlikely anyone would ever know. Even if they did, there are what, several billion humans? It could just be a coincidence. This, and the fact that Harry didn't mind being a hypocrite, all made him come to the choice regarding his future demeanor.

"I think we'll be great friends Luna!~" He pressed a kiss to the girls cheek, before packing up to leave.

Luna Lovegood stood there, hand rising to her cheek, and her smile spread ever so slightly wider as she watched the boy she'd helped leave, "I thought that something good might come from this... But I've finally got a friend... I can't wait to tell Daddy."

...

There was a legendary amount of animosity between one Severus Snape and Harry James Potter. Ever since the first year that the two shared the same room, this fact was public knowledge. After the summer, Harry had come to think differently about Snape, not because he thought the made had reason behind his actions in any way, in fact, it was quite the opposite.

Harry came to realize that Professour Snape was just so very _human_.

Human beings didn't need reason to hate, they just did it as though hatred was something they needed to life. So, Harry let the emotion toward the Professour go, instead, he just thought about what a good example Snape was. That was all the man was to Harry anymore, an example of psychology on the human condition.

Which is why, the third day back at Hogwarts, and Harry having potions class, the raven haired boy went in with his notebook, pen, and other necessary potion supplies, and just sat with a small, almost interested smile on his face. A smile that was quickly spreading into excitement – an excitement that was nearly impossible to hold back, and Harry didn't want to either. One of the best examples that could possibly contribute to the Potter's understanding on humans was coming in the room in only a few more moments –

 _Bang!_

How typical of the Professour to be so over-dramatic!

He swooped into the room after slamming the door open, his robes fluttering behind him. He glared at the students with dark eyes, gliding his gaze over all of them. Those steely eyes softened when over the Slytherin's, darkened when gazing on the Gryffindor's – and wait – There it was! The moment those almost black eyes met Harry's red, the man sneered and curled in hatred.

A corrupted hatred though, because there was something there that almost ruined the moment, the Professour looked nervous beneath it all.

"Mr. Potter, I see you are back, and already treading your rule breaking ways once more. 10 points from Gryffindor, and next time you are in my class, you had better be wearing your or it's detention for you." He sneered out, seeming to push any nervousness aside with relative ease.

Harry decided it was one of the best times to practicing the behavior that he'd been adapting to himself, "Hello Professour~ I almost wish that I could agree with what you are saying. After all, you are a well respected Potions Master, but the school rules don't state anything about uniforms. We aren't required to wear them. Sorry sir, I already checked all the rule books, for your own convenience of course."

The raven haired boy had kept an almost happy smile on his face as he practically teasingly sung out the words. It was something the Potions Master wouldn't appreciate, the young wizard was sure, but it was mildly representative of The Character. The slightly polite, but underhandedly insulting was not only workable, but also preferable to the purely cutting remarks from before.

"Seems you think yourself to know everything, Potter." The man spat out, his expression twisting into something ugly with his anger, "If I can't take off points for you not wearing your uniform, then I'll take them off for you refusing to do as I tell you when I ordered you to wear it. You aren't allowed to disobey your Professours, Potter, not even you."

Snape was quite the Slytherin, the way he quickly found the simplest work around, "Oh, I see what you mean, Professour. Alright, you can give me point deductions and detentions if you want."

Harry certainly wasn't going to start wearing the robes though – Regardless of the punishments that he received. They got in the way, and they were just a subtle reminder that you were separated from your peers. Unlike in other schools, were a uniform was just that, unifying, in Hogwarts it separated the students into different sections. It reinforced a feeling of being different from others – And that wasn't true at all, most of the students were the same on the inside.

Except for the ones that were able to separate themselves. Namely people with some actual intelligence, Hermione, Harry, perhaps Draco Malfoy in a way.

People who managed to have individuality from their House.

Snape however, seemed to miss the underlying tone in Harry. Not surprising, considering just how angry the man had become.

The class itself had been ready for famous witty comebacks from Harry, as he seemed to have something new each year. They were disappointed however, that their entertainment didn't seem to be coming. Very few people even realized that what Harry did was more effective than those remarks.

Harry didn't even finish his Potion that class, finding observing Snape to be far more interesting.

...

"You and Moody seem to have put Snape in a right foul mood." Ron muttered as the trio made their way to their first DADA class together.

Harry couldn't resist the practically delighted grin that spread across his face, "Our dear Professour doesn't have a very thick skin, does he?~" Harry paused for a moment, putting on an almost theatrically thoughtful look, "Still, the interactions between him and Moody are extremely interesting. It could be attributed to petty jealously, but if I'm being honest, it seems like Moody is the one that is escalating their disagreements, not Snape. Not that Snape doesn't give as good as he gets."

"Snape is just jealous of Moody for taking away the DADA position." Ron disagreed, giving Harry a weird expression, almost as though wondering why such a simple explanation didn't occur to his friend.

Hermione took this chance to jump in, "It's Professour Snape, and I think Harry is right."

"Of course you do."

Harry could practically hear Ron's eyes role as he spoke those words.

"It's more than simple jealousy, just think about it a bit more. First year, Snape didn't go after Quirrell because of the DADA position, it was because of Voldemort. Second year, our dear Professour went after Lockhart because the man was an incompetent. Third year you could say that Snape went after Lupin, but that wasn't about the DADA position, it was more personal." Harry explained, his voice almost cheerful, and his steps practically skips.

Now both of his friends were looking at him in confusion – Not over the explanation, which was simple enough, but about their friends behavior. Both thinking better than to mention it, knowing that Harry's good moods tended to be temperamental at best.

The three made it to the Defense classroom and noted the almost abnormal set up the room had. Instead of tables or desks, there were just chairs. The only surface in the room was the Professour's desk, which was notably barren. Hermione, Ron, and Harry picked chairs that were next to each other, and at the front of the room. It made Harry uncomfortable, having his back exposed as it was, knowing that Moody had something against the red-eyed boy, but he pushed it aside.

Scant moments later, Moody entered the room, his wooden leg visible under his robes.

Harry noticed that there were several students getting their books out, despite the fact that there were no desks. Were the context clues not enough for them?

Surely though, "You can put those away, you won't be needing those books." Moody growled, his magical eye rolling it's gaze around the room.

It stopped at Harry for a long pause, but then moved on to the other students as though it didn't happen – Calling out attendance just a moment later.

"I have a note from your competent DADA Professour, he said that this class had a thorough education in Dark Creatures, Boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas, Werewolves, Hinkpunks, Grindylows, and the like – Is that correct?"

After he got an affirmative, he went on to explain his thoughts of their current education level more clearly, "You're behind, extremely behind, when it comes to dealing with curses. Instead of teaching about creatures, I'm going to educate you on what wizards to to one another – Since I've only got one year to do this, we've got to do this right."

Harry certainly wasn't expecting the man to stay for longer – No one had for quite a long time. The 'curse' on the position had even made itself a home in history books.

"Having said that, let's get straight into it. Curses come in many different forms – and according to Ministry Regulations – I'm meant to teach you counter curses and leave you with just htat. You aren't meant to learn anything about illegal curses until you're in Sixth Year. Luckily for you, I've got a higher opinion than the Ministry in regards to your ability to deal with stress. After all, you can't defend against something if you don't know a Wizards true capabilities."

He paused for a moment, eye rolling around, "One such capability is seeing just what you are tiring to show your friend, Miss Brown."

What the girl had been showing her friend was a moot point. What really matter was the fact Moody seemed to be able to see through solid objects – An extremely useful ability that Harry would have to keep in mind. He doubted that he would be able to find a way to utilize something like that anytime soon, but that didn't mean he couldn't in the future.

"Now that we are all paying attention, do any of you know which curses are the most highly illegal by Wizarding Law-Enforcement?"

Harry actually didn't know the answer, which was why it surprised him, and sickened him just a little bit, that his red-headed friend did. Sure, Harry loved his friend as much as he could, but the male was rather dimwitted when compared with Harry or Hermione.

"My dad told me 'bout one... The Imperius Curse, I think." Ron answered almost tentatively.

This was actually the first time Harry could remember Ron answering a question in class.

"You're father would know about that one. Yes, the Imperius Curse."

Moody reached behind him, without turning around, and somehow grabbed a spider, it was rather large, and it was a wonder that no one had seen it sneaking around the classroom before. In fact, if Harry was correct, that particular spider was one of Hagrid's pets decadence. Without a seconds pause, Moody's wand was pointed toward the spider and he spoke one word clearly, " _Imperio_!"

He made the spider do something like a tap dance, and several people burst into laughter, except a few notable exceptions: Draco, Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Harry.

Harry in particular found the curse almost disgusting. No, he didn't have anything against the control of spiders, but the wider application needed to be considered. The reason this curse was so forbidden was likely because it could take control of humans. This was something that showcased the worst things that humans were capable of - Taking away the _best_ thing humans were capable of. Freedom of choice, the fact that a human can, in fact, choose for themselves whether to do something or not.

That was Harry's favourite part of human beings, and a spell that could take away one of the few enjoyments he found in humans, was something the Potter found himself irrationally hating.

"You think it's funny, I suppose then, you wouldn't mind if I tried it out on you. Total control of a being, I could have the spider do anything, including kill itself."

Ron continued to warily watch the spider, he almost looked as though he wanted to run out of the room.

"The good news is that the Imperius Curse can be fought against and I will be teaching you how. Of course, it takes a willpower that few are capable of, so overall it's better to just avoid being hit with it if at all possible. Which means that you need to exercise CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" He ended with a loud, jarring exclamation.

Moody went on after that, questioning the next curse, which, Harry was surprised to find Neville know. There seemed to be a deeper reason behind it, considering Neville's reaction to the curse once it was cast upon the spider. Of course, Harry could understand understand a little bit about why seeing this curse in particular could be upsetting, considering the contortions the spiders body went into, but Harry found it more fascinating than revolting. Neville undoubtedly didn't have the same view point.

Harry turned away from his observations to make a little bit of a logic jump. Considering the current curses that they talked about, one that gave absolute control, one that gave absolute pain, the next would be the one that caused absolute death.

The one that seemed to have a single exception.

"Anyone know the last curse – Perhaps you, Potter?" Moody spoke, staring right into Harry's ruby eyes.

Harry waved his hand softly in the air as though to bat away the attention, "That's not nice of you Professour, asking me to recall one of my worse memories without a thought for my mental state. You could have given me a panic attack~"

The almost cheery tone had no place in the current discussion, and it gained a few uneasy looks, but Moody just seemed to study him. Harry found this interesting, because the man seemed almost fascinated by Harry's eyes, unlike before when he seemed to have near hatred and paranoia at the sight.

"Apologies Potter, I should have given more thought to your delicate nature."

"Why thank you Professour~!" Harry retorted quickly, giving the man a happy smile.

Moody gave Harry another look over with his magical eye, before turning back to the lesson as though the little back and forth had never occurred, " _Avada Kedavra_ , the Killing Curse."

Moody turned toward the already traumatized spider, and pointed his want at it, spitting out the words that soon created a sickening green light. The spider fell dead the second the light hit it, the dead spider itself was unmarked, but stiff with death that no one could mistake.

If Harry hated the Imperio Curse for its possibilities against the best of human nature – He _feared_ the Killing Curse. It wasn't uncommon, a fear of death, but Harry was practically petrified at the idea of dying. The uncertainty of it all made him flinch at the sight of a dead and now utterly harmless spider.

Pathetic, that was what it was. A weakness that Harry didn't need, but it was also one that couldn't be avoided, and therefore wouldn't interfere with his goals. There was no need, or way, to get over it.

Through the eerie silence, Moody spoke once again, "Not pleasant is it, and there's no countercurse, no blocking it, and only one person has survived it."

Everyone turned to Harry, who swiftly pulled himself together and rubbed the back of his neck in a clearly mocking-bashful motion.

"All of these curses are likely impossible for you to cast. They need a meaning behind them a powerful emotion that I doubt that a single one of you could muster. In fact, even if you were to attempt to cast the Killing Curse at me, I doubt I would even hack a cough. Still, you need to know, just in case." He paused for a moment in his lecture, "Those three curses are known as the Unforgivable Curses, horrible enough to earn you life in Azkaban. They are so, because none of them can be blocked with a shield, like I said, no countercurse exists for them.

The class went off into note taking, Harry went off to theoretical musings.

It made sense that those particular curses were illegal – but it made more sense when you thought about them in the perspective of human fears. Unblockable curses that were created in a mirrour image of some of the biggest and worst fears there were. The fear of death, pain, and lose of control.

Harry only found two of the personally unacceptable, but the understanding was there.

"Now, I want an essay that accurately explains why you think that these curses had laws made against them with such harsh punishment. I won't give you a length, but I want an well thought out response."

After the homework assignment, the class was released. Most of them were a little bit shaky after the rather dark lesson, Harry was still somewhat sickened by the thought of the Imperious Curse, but he managed to hide it rather well. Neville on the other hand, didn't seem to be having anywhere near as good a luck. He stood, staring at a wall with a horrified wide-eyed look, and it didn't seem to be going anyway anytime soon.

Hermione, ever the wonderful human, walked up to him, "Neville?" She inquired in a gentle manner.

"Oh hello you guys." Neville responded, but clearly shaken and still somewhat out of it, "It was an interesting lesson, wasn't it. That is, I think we should go to dinner now, or maybe the Common Room, or I don't know, somewhere good."

Neville continued to ramble on, when a familiar growly voice spoke out from behind them, "You alright there sonny? Why don't you come up to my office, we can have a cup of tea."

The trio's fellow Gryffindor looked terrified at the idea – Harry didn't particularly blame him. In fact, Harry found it hard to want to be even this close to the man. The idea that he could cast any of those curses at the kids at anytime was somewhat... Daunting.

Despite the new Harry not being all that prone to exuberant amounts of kindness, he found himself stepping in, "Nice to see you again Professour~ And so soon after your lesson as well. I'm going to have to stop you though you see, Neville and me both have a meeting with Professour McGonagall extremely soon, though I assure you, I'd love to allow my friend here to get away from her, I don't think I'd want to deal with her stern face looking at me."

The tone was light – Everything that Harry wasn't actually feeling toward the man he was talking to.

Despite the fact that Harry was telling a downright lie, Neville clang to the words like they were his saving grace – Nodding along frantically.

"Oh, and what's this meeting about, boy?"

Harry could tell that the man didn't believe them, but he also couldn't disapprove of what was being said, which was good enough, "You see, I needed to see McGonagall about the whole 'robe issue' that everyone keeps bringing up. I've told her that I would bring Neville as a character witness, so that she knows I'm not lying about what happened in Professour Snape's classroom."

Ignoring the DADA Professour's narrowed and suspicious eyes, Harry grabbed Neville's hand and drug him along, practically skipping away from the gruff man, and headed in the actual direction of McGonagall's office, knowing that the man could see through surfaces.

"Thank you, Harry." Neville said after they walked a bit, Harry having released his classmates hand just prior. Hermione and Ron had likely headed to supper, rather than follow the lie their friend had made.

Harry gave his classmate a smile, "No problem, Neville."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you do it?" There was a strange sort of bravery to Neville's voice. Even though he was clearly fearful of asking, more likely about the answer, he still asked.

Harry wondered if that was what he sounded like to other people when he wore his Boy-Who-Lived mask.

"Mostly because, I get it. Being so fearful of being around someone that can cast curses like that ... Just isn't a pleasant thought. I was absolutely horrified and offended when he used that curse in the same room as me." Harry spoke, gesturing as though to explain his thoughts better.

"The Killing Curse... Because of your parents?" Neville asked, although less hesitantly this time.

Harry stood in place, Neville stopped with his fellow and the red-eyed boy just gave the plant lover a dark look, "I could care less about the Killing Curse. I'm afraid of death, but that is a logical fear considering the lack of knowledge on what comes next. What I really dislike is the thought behind the Imperious Curse – The very idea that someone can strip away what is essentially humanities only redeeming quality, is something that I greatly dislike."

Neville seemed confused, Harry felt weirdly inclined to clarify.

"You see, lately, how can I put this simply, I've gained a fondness for humans. By their very nature, human beings are unpredictable, chaotic, and I like that. I simple love the fact that no matter how much I learn, no matter how much of my considerable intelligence I place into learning about humanity, I'll never be able to completely predict them. That's not something I can say about anything else in this world." Harry spoke, his passion was clear in his voice.

Neville looked shocked, almost horrified, and for but a moment Harry could tell that Neville was about to reject Harry on the basis of the weird beliefs Harry had.

Instead, Neville seemed to force the thought down, "I don't really understand but... I guess as long as it makes you happy."

How loyal, how nice, generous, and how utterly _human._

"That's exactly it Neville! Just like all the other humans that I am growing fond of, you go and surprise me. Who would have thought you would accept me for my current being, that you would not try to get me to change, or to outright reject me." Harry could feel his mouth stretching in a fully toothed grin, "I think I can trust you Neville. How would you feel about learning the true story of someone named Sirius Black?"

 **R &R**

 **Should Luna be a Seer? I feel like it would go well with what Harry wants in the future - but we don't want him to get things done TOO easily now do we. Leave me your thoughts and suggestions, I would love to implement a few of them.**


	6. Scheming and Duplicitous Planning

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything that I've written. Yep, that's right, I own not even one iota of the below work.

 **Summary:** Harry became disenchanted with Dumbledore, so he works toward enlightenment, and this has several effects on the wizard, but what effects will it have on the world around him.

 **Authour Note:** Alright so this is a extremely short chapter about the 'New Trio' that is currently being created. I'm hoping that no one thinks I'm moving along too quickly, this is just the plan and the start of everything. It's still going to be quite awhile until everything plays out. As for why this chapter is so short, it's because I decided to separate it from the last chapter, which was getting too long, and the next chapter which will have the schools coming along, and a lot of different moves behind the scenes with Harry - So I plan and believe that chapter will be rather long as well.

This is also a good time to **announce the ship results**. At least, it's as good a time as any. Luna has won by an extremely wide margin. Now, I'm not the best at writing Luna, she has me scratching my skull and wondering just how the hell I'm going to work this out. If t starts to get too difficult, please keep in mind that I said before, I am not promising that I will keep the winning ship throughout the whole story. Just that the ship WILL be in the story and be majourly incorporated. (I honestly have always thought that Luna would be an amazing friend to Harry, perhaps not the best girlfriend. I know this is something people will undoubtedly disagree about.)

I also plan to have some aspects of a wonderful Guest review to make an appearance in my story. They had some ideas about the Lovegood family that I liked and will probably work to include in some ways. Probably not exactly the way they wrote it out, but I've gained a bit of inspiration.

This might as well just be half authour notes. LAUGHINGMYASSOFFANDCRYINGATONCE. I am looking for a potentially beta, but I don't want to search the beta listings because that takes too long. If you wanna potentially beta this story, probably should google docs, let me know.

 **Chapter Six: Scheming and** **Duplicitous Planning**

...

 _"That's exactly it Neville! Just like all the other humans that I am growing fond of, you go and surprise me. Who would have thought you would accept me for my current being, that you would not try to get me to change, or to outright reject me." Harry could feel his mouth stretching in a fully toothed grin, "I think I can trust you Neville. How would you feel about learning the true story of someone named Sirius Black?"_

Less than fifteen minutes ago, Harry had brought the topic up – Neville seemed shocked, almost scared, but had a strong sort of determination.

Had Harry seen this emotion on more faces, he would have known what he was seeing was loyalty.

Moments later, Harry was dragging Neville along toward one of the least used hallways in the school, and into a classroom within it. Along the way, Harry knocked open several of the doors – If only to make sure they were as alone as possible. The behavior had Neville giving a small, almost worried frown, but the Herbology lover let the actions go without saying a word.

The classroom that Harry had chosen was at the end of the dead-end corridor – Yet somehow there was a little surprise held inside.

"Hello." The dreamy voice spoke, as soon as both Harry and Neville walked into the room.

Harry spun toward the familiar voice, startled, but not put off. In fact, it was a risk but, as soon as he made friends with Luna Lovegood he started to do research on his new favourite blonde.

She was a pureblood, her family didn't have the largest amount of political clout, but they did have something else. In the Wizaridng World Britain there were 3 main publications. The Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, and The Quibbler. Luna's father owned one of them – Perhaps it wasn't the main reason that Harry wanted friendship with the girl, but it certainly didn't hurt matters. Neville was the same in his usefulness, although it had once again been an afterthought, the Longbottom actually had a lot of political clout in the Ministry.

"Luna~ My favourite blonde." Harry announced, practically skipping over to her, "Why are you in here? Quite the unlikely place, isn't it?"

Luna gave a smile to her first friend, "I don't really know, I just felt like I should come here." She looked around the classroom, her hazed eyes looking even more so with the confusion painted in them, "Do you think the Umgubular Slashkilters had something to do with it? Perhaps Fudge doesn't want the truth to come out – Me and Daddy should have foreseen this..."

 _What an interesting thing_ , Harry thought toward Luna, his pleased feelings growing in the face of the two most unlikely humans that had become his friends. Sure, Hermione and Ron were still his friends, but there was a drift there. It wasn't hard to see why – Harry befriended them within the limits of his Boy-Who-Lived mask, they weren't friends with the real Harry, the Harry James Potter that was currently evolving and becoming someone that... Quite frankly the two wouldn't be able to accept within their current moral spectrum.

"I don't think so Luna, in fact, I was coming here to tell Neville something very interesting about a member of my family. Maybe this is just happy coincidence." Harry doubted his own words, but spoke them even knowing Luna would know that.

Why did the red-eyed boy doubt them? It was weird, that two times in the past few days Luna showed up at such weirdly coincidental times. Harry didn't believe in coincidence, at least, he didn't think he did. Still, he didn't see a problem with Luna knowing things, as long as the, let's dub it, _Luna Effect_ , worked in his favour.

Maybe if it happened more often, Harry could convince his darling blonde to an experiment to figure it out.

Now he was getting pretty far off his mental tracks.

"Would you like to stay Luna? You're unique perspective could be helpful." Harry asked, and was surprised by the happy grin that came over the blonde girl.

The happiest that Harry had seen her thus far, at the very least.

"I'll take that as a yes then. Alright, Neville, this is Luna, a Ravenclaw from a year below us. We became friends a few days ago when she helped me make an important choice. Luna, this is Neville, he's a housemate of mine from my year." Harry gestured toward each of them during his introduction, before sitting on the teachers desk, his right leg dangling with his left crossed over the right.

Neville seemed to gather his Gryffindor courage once again, "N-Nice to meet you Luna."

"It is nice to meet you as well Neville. Maybe you can be my second first friend." She smiled at the nervous boy, her response and atmosphere seeming to calm Neville down.

"Alright!~ Now that everyone knows each other we can get to why we've convened today." Harry spoke, leaning forward dramatically, and announced at a stage whisper, "Sirius Black is innocent."

Neville seemed stunned and disbelieving, it knocked any shyness out of him, "B-but he broke into the Common Room to kill you just last year, and he stuck near the school so that he could, and Ron saw him with a knife and everything. He was in Azkaban for Merlin's sake!"

It seemed that Neville was the type to believe in the justice system – Perhaps it had treated his family fairly at some point? His grandmother was part of it, being in the Wizengamot.

One of the hardest things about growing up was taking off your rose tinted glasses when it came to the state of the world and politics.

Luna didn't seem to respond at all, didn't even give a single twitch of reaction, just continued to stare at Harry, as though waiting for more information. Something that Harry soon after granted, "My father and his friends made up a group that played pranks – Which of course – is beside the point. They became illegal animagus, the members of this group were James Potter, Remus Lupin, Petter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black."

"Wow, I actually forgot just how long this story was." Harry murmured to himself, a small smirk pulling to the corner of his mouth, "Anyway, my parents went into hiding, and everyone knew that James and Sirius were best friends, so they came to the decision to pick Pettigrew to be the secret keeper – Expecting that no one would think the weakest and least intelligent of the group would be the one with the secret. Instead, James and Lily picked the spy in the mix, and Pettigrew went to Voldemort and told him my parents location. This is, of course, only one of the things Sirius is accused of. However, he didn't kill the Muggles either. When all was said and done, Potter family dead, Sirius left me in Hagrid's safe hands and went after Pettigrew himself. When he met with Pettigrew, the rat showed a surprising amount of cunning, blew up the street, cut his own finger off, transformed, and slunk away leaving Sirius to take the blame. Since people thought it so obvious that Sirius was the betrayer – There was no trial for my dear, innocent Godfather, and he was immediately sent to prison, until he later broke out, but that's a story for another time I suppose."

There was a silence at the end of the story, everyone seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Harry was thinking over just how much he needed to talk to his dear Godfather. The past few months, he'd been so distracted by his plans that he'd forgotten to write to his Godfather a number of times.

"Where is Pettigrew now?" Luna suddenly asked, her voice having lost the dreamy quality and seemed utterly focused.

"He's gone into hiding now that Sirius escaped and is trying to find the little rat."

"H-have... Are you telling us this because you want our help?" Neville asked, weirdly perspective, perhaps his grandmothers training shinning through?

"Something like that~ I came to the realization last year that Dumbledore could probably get my Godfather a trail. You see, the man knows Sirius is innocent and isn't doing anything about it. I want my Godfather free, so I'm going to work around that particular roadblock and get Sirius acquitted myself. You would be good allies in this, both of you." Harry admitted rather shamelessly, giving a helpless shrug.

Neville seemed a little bit hurt, but it was Luna that spoke up, "My first friend thinks of me as a tool... Daddy won't be pleased – but since you're my friend, I guess it's okay. I'm assuming that you want something written in The Quibbler?"

The red-eyed boy looked at his favourite blonde in shock for a moment – Having expecting anything other than just passive agreement. This was compounded by the fact that his plans were coming along almost too quickly. Harry hadn't planned on even attempting to get his Godfather cleared for a few years – Thinking it beyond his current capabilities. Yet with a publication willing to print the truth... Word would get out, and perhaps Harry wouldn't need to have an active hand in the matter. Luna truly was a gift, both in her actions, but also in her intelligence for working things out so quickly.

It would work smoothly, if the details were ironed out correctly...

"You'd be willing to do that, even knowing I befriended you mostly because you could be a useful tool?~" Harry asked, almost cheerfully, and looking for signs of deception.

Luna just gave Harry a dreamy smile, "I guess, in part, it's because you had no way of knowing the potential our friendship had prior to you initializing it. Plus... The situation would be mutually beneficial – You get the word out on your Godfather, and The Quibbler get's a hit story. It will make the sales go through the roof."

Harry could see why the blonde had become a Ravenclaw with that strategy. Perhaps he'd underestimated the blonde, Neville on the other hand, still seemed stunned.

"Is that a-all we are to you though... Tools? E-even if you couldn't know at first, you do now... So...?" Neville asked, almost shyly, and there was a subtle anger in his voice, or perhaps, was it hurt.

Harry could venture a guess into why the hurt was there. Over the years, Neville was systematically ignored by their fellow housemates, in fact, he was the only fourth-year boy without a strong friendship to anyone. Dean and Seamus got along, Harry and Ron were best friends, and that made Neville the odd one out. Harry had, perhaps twenty minutes ago, given Neville hope of a friendship that he was likely craving for years, and now the red-eyed boy had the potential to cruelly pull that away.

"I'm not a nice person I guess... I hate and have a deep fondness of humans at the same time. I generally view them as something to be watched, maybe even played with, and it's a bad trait that I sometimes wish I didn't pick up – I understand it too much now to turn back." Harry answered, without really answering, "I guess... No, you aren't just tools to me. You have potential to be my good friends as well."

The truth was, Harry wasn't sure himself anymore.

He didn't know what he was turning into. The love/hate relationship that he had going on with humanity was far too big an obsession at this point, one Harry didn't want to let go. It made Harry view humans as little more than a game – But they had _thoughts_ and _feelings_ and shouldn't be treated as such.

Neville didn't seem to have a response to that.

"Neville, no matter what, I think it goes without saying that you can't mention this to anyone else." Harry suddenly spoke up again, seeing Neville's indecision, and the Potters demeanor darkened into something almost threatening for the first time since his attitude change, his ruby eyes sharpening into blades.

The Longbottom contained a shiver, and went deep into though. Luna seemed perfectly okay with the idea of being used by Harry, but it just didn't sit right with Neville to allow that. At the same time, he was loyal to people that he thought of as his friends, or even potential friends. He didn't want to betray Harry's trust – and seeing the threatening air that had erupted the second that seemed to occur in Neville's mind – he was too scared to anyway.

"I get it... You should do anything for your family and friends. Sometimes you even need to go against things that should be considered moral." Neville said slowly... Tying his feelings of loyalty into Harry's explanation, to make it seem less _sickening_.

"I'm glad Neville! Me and this Little Gift could probably use the friendship." Harry practically sang out, Luna looking particularly happy with her little nickname, "I don't actually need you for anything at the moment Neville. I'm not using you, so you can go into this friendship with a clear conscience. I didn't save you from Moody so that you would owe me, it was simply empathy that triggered that. I'm not such a horrible person. You'll see~"

And with that settled, three weirdly likely people started to plan just what they could or should do about one Sirius Black's false imprisonment.

 _~Hello Padfoot~_

 _I came up with a potential plan that should help qualify you to get a trail. I'm hoping that we can get the word to the right people. This should actually work, so I'm going to send you a copy and keep yourself updated on the current events in Wizarding World Britain, of course, you had better actually keep yourself safe as you do so._

 _We have a lot to talk about next time we get together._

 _~A Lowly Informant~_

The plan that we had ironed out included several different pieces.

First, the article that Harry and Luna whipped up to be on front page for The Quibbler. The article would be about Harry explaining his childhood ' _memories_ ' of his parents and godfather, stating that he knew Sirius to be innocent but no one believed him. The Potter then paid out of his ass to get several of them made and delivered to everyone in the school – Who would go on to tell their parents what they read, possibly even sending The Quibbler itself to them.

The second part included the making of a, 'Black Dossier' that would be sent to several key figures in the Ministry. Neville had helped list out who the people receiving the list should be, and Harry would be the one making the dossier, sending the information via the moniker 'A Lowly Informant'

Both those things should force the public to consider the fact Sirius needed do process, and then the rest was relatively smooth. All they would need would be for Sirius to come to England and actually stand trial.

...

Scheming was actually quite the bond building exercise, because by the end of it, Neville seemed a bit more relaxed in Harry's presence, and Luna was practically humming her happiness, or was she literally humming? Harry himself was ecstatic – If it worked out, than he wouldn't have to go back to the Dursley's again. Of course, it wouldn't change other plans, it was far too late for him to go back now. He'd entered the rabbit hole, and now he liked the idea. He liked the cunning and intelligence he would need to use for the job.

He _would_ be an informant.

Maybe he could get Neville and Luna to help him plan that out as well. Only after their current plan worked out, of course, Harry thought that Neville surely needed to get more comfortable with his new friendships before they could start more evil plotting, but maybe one day soon...

 **R &R**

 **Do you guys want animagus Harry? If so, what type of animal do you think he'd be with his new personality?**


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